Rainbow
by SunLight
Summary: Ecruteak City's dark secrets belie its peaceful appearance when strangers come to town, bearing the Rainbow Wing.
1. Ghosts and Dancers

_I have a fascination with Ecruteak City, though this fic went through countless drafts over the course of a few years before I realized what story I wanted to tell._

_The clues and answers are in the details, some more obvious than others. I am not always fair when I dispense information so please keep me honest. Please also feel free to ask me questions and comments/suggestions are all welcome as well._

_Enjoy._

* * *

**One**

**Ghosts and Dancers**

The night before Mai leaves for the Ecruteak City, she performs atop a pagoda. It is autumn, the surrounding trees resplendent in red and gold. There is no music save the faint chimes of a bell, and all around her lays the landscape of a crumbling metropolis. It is only when she catches sight of Mother, watching her amidst an otherwise faceless audience, that she realizes she is merely dreaming. Mother has been dead for years.

Mai stops. "Mother?" The knowledge that nothing is real does not lessen a ten-year-old's curiosity toward the woman who exists only in photographs.

Mother smiles, a cold smile that contains too many shades of meanings to discern.

"Why are you dancing, Mai?" she asks.

The explanation comes to Mai naturally, though she has not stopped to think of a reason until then. "I am going to the Kimono Dance Theater," she says. "I am one of five girls selected this year."

"You must be careful," Mother says sharply.

Mai stares at her, having expected Mother to be proud. She is frozen in place as Mother steps close and cups her cheeks. Up close, her resemblance to the woman in Mai's pictures fades. Her face is too pale, her lips are too red, and her eyes are an empty lifeless black. Her hands are very, very cold.

Mai wakes up shivering, remembering little of the dream aside from the feel of her mother's breath against her ear and the words she would later recall with different eyes.

"Stay too long in Ecruteak City," Mother had whispered, "and you will end up dancing with ghosts."

* * *

_A city that even now bears the marks of its history._ Mai reads the sign as she enters Ecruteak City and finds that it is an apt description.

Through the car window, she stares in amazement at the people strolling about in kimonos, the streets lined with machiya, and the town squares populated by trees and fountains. The Dance Theater is more of the same. A few miles north of the pokémon center, it boasts a collection of traditional buildings that sprawl over a hundred acres of manicured green. On her first night, as she watches the stars in the courtyard of her dormitory, Mai could almost imagine that she has arrived in a different era.

The next morning, the magic of Ecruteak fades somewhat as Mai sets out to explore the city in earnest. Here and there, she catches glimpses that give away the city's modern identity. Like the handful of skyscrapers that tower over shrines, or the newly constructed stores displaying sleek products from Devon and Silph. There are also the tourists and pokémon trainers, who look and dress in a distinctly different style from the native townspeople.

Keiko, one of Mai's new classmates, serves as tour guide. Her family has lived in the city for many generations. The other girls, like Mai, come from elsewhere. Chiyo is from New Bark Town, Akina is from Cianwood City, and Hana is from Cherrygrove City. None of them has been to Ecruteak before. Over their first breakfast together in the communal cafeteria, they resolved to take full advantage of the week before the start of classes.

Fortunately for them, their arrival coincides with the Obon Festival, one of Ecruteak's most famous events that draw many from all over the world. A giant carnival is set up in the middle of the city, complete with themed rides and food stands. Music blares over loudspeakers. Now and then, different groups of young women dressed in yukata would encourage everyone to start dancing to a modernized and abridged version of the Bon Odori.

The weather cannot be better. It is a warm summer day, not as sweltering hot as it could sometimes get in the more metropolitan Goldenrod City. After a ride on the famous Gyarados Roller Coaster, another on the Empoleon Water Slide, and a third on the Ponyta Go Around, Mai sits down on a bench with Keiko. As she licks her newly purchased watmel berry-flavored popsicle, she cannot stop stealing glances at the other girl. There is something about her that is different, possibly the allure of having been raised and trained in a Kimono Girl culture. She has an air of tranquility, in addition to a manner that suggests that she understands what most others cannot.

"This place is pretty amazing," Mai says, timidly starting a conversation. Keiko turns to her and cocks her head. "I mean, we have our own Obon celebrations too, but it isn't as impressive."

Her hometown lacks the atmosphere present in Ecruteak, though she is not sure how to describe it.

"It's pretty cool," Keiko agrees. "My family comes every year and I never get tired of it."

The two girls watch as another group of girls succeeds in getting the crowd to start an impromptu dance. Much laughter ensues as everyone tries to find enough space in the crowd to form concentric circles.

"Now _this_, I do get tired of, they are terrible!" Keiko says. "From second-rate dance schools, most probably. Sometimes I wish that the Kimono Girls would perform more, but they are really picky about their engagements, because most of the shows they get invited to would be demeaning to their status." She shakes her head. "That sadly means most of our tourists end up getting the wrong idea about what traditional dance actually looks like."

Mai scrutinizes the dancers before her more carefully, but having only trained in ballet, she could only tell that the dance looks quite similar to the Bon Odori in Goldenrod City. She turns back to Keiko.

"Have you seen the Kimono Girls perform in person then?"

Keiko nods proudly. "Of course! My old dance school is a little sister school to the Dance Theater. We perform in some of the same shows. Occasionally some of the top dancers would even come and instruct us, and of course the headmistress would come herself every once in a while to scout future recruits, like me."

"Wow!" Mai is impressed. "I wish I could see the Kimono Girls dance in person too."

"But you will, obviously," cuts in a different voice. Hana, Chiyo, and Akina have joined them. "We are Kimono Girl trainees now," Hana continues, "so I expect we will see the Kimono Girls all the time once classes start."

"Actually, you will see them dance today," Keiko says. "The Elder always makes sure that they perform during the Obon Festival. There will be a big stage set up here after lunch."

Mai brightens. "I can't wait!"

They have lunch in a nearby restaurant run by friends of Keiko's family. Over rice, miso soup, and grilled magikarp, Keiko tells them more about the Kimono Girls. There are generally five to seven full-fledged Kimono Girls, she explains, but the exact number is not fixed and changes from generation to generation. Only the very top dancers in each incoming year can even be _considered_ to become a Kimono Girl. Once selected, they will keep their positions until they retire.

To Hana's visible disappointment, she also mentions that Kimono Girls do not spend all their time at the Dance Theater. Instead they travel very often to other cities and regions for performances and media appearances. Outside the public eye, the Kimono Girls are very private. They never give interviews and few are privileged to know them personally.

Not all of these are new to Mai, who has watched the Kimono Girls dance on television multiple times and learned about them through newspapers and magazines. Nevertheless, some of Keiko's anecdotes of her own interactions with them arouse new curiosity, so she can hardly wait to see the dancers perform in person.

When the girls return to the carnival, they see that some of the rides have been cleared to make room for a large wooden stage, its curtains closed, surrounded by rows of chairs. There is already a huge crowd waiting and many people are standing. Strangely, despite having arrived rather late, the girls find many chairs in the front conveniently empty. Following Keiko's lead, they sit down.

Once the seats are more or less filled, an old man dressed in a dark blue kimono walks onto the stage. Keiko explains in a whisper that he is Sage Masa, one of the aides to the Elder.

"I thank all of you for coming," he says in a loud voice, without using a microphone. "My introduction to you will be quite short. As you all know, Ecruteak City is known for its beauty, and I daresay there will be nothing that embodies the notion of beauty more than the dancing of our top dancers. Please, let us welcome our Kimono Girls!"

Loud applause ensues. The curtains slowly rise, revealing seven slim figures each dressed in a different colored kimono, holding an umbrella in a corresponding color. They are greeted by more applause, screams, and even catcalls from the bolder audience members. The purple-clad young woman in the center raises her hands and, almost immediately, everyone falls quiet.

Soft shamisen music begins playing in the background, soon accompanied by the sound of a flute and the beating of a drum. Then the dance commences.

Every moment that the Kimono Girls make is delicate and deliberate. Mai feels chills down her back. She knows enough about traditional dance to know that it is very nuanced. The smallest of gestures can tell a whole story on its own, whether it is the curl of a finger or the tilt of an arm. Though their style of dancing is introverted, with little eye contact with the audience, the Kimono Girls nevertheless draw everyone into their story. In this dance, they seem to portray young women searching for someone across a large river, a love story perhaps. The music grows more sorrowful as the dance speeds up, until all that could be seen of the dancers are the blur of their kimonos and umbrellas.

They look like a rainbow, Mai thinks, a rainbow that bridges the river so the lovers can meet. And indeed, there is sudden joy in the music and the dancers' movements become gentler, almost flirty. The umbrellas twirl merrily and each Kimono Girl seems to be engaged in her own dance with a partner, though she remains perfectly in sync with the others. Mai is again reminded of a rainbow, though this time the rainbow just seems to represent the joy of seeing the sun again after a large rainstorm.

The last notes of the song play, and both music and dancers come to a stop. There is a brief moment of silence, and then, a huge roar of applause. Even the pokémon, who have not stirred throughout the performance, join in their owners' cheering with their own cries of approval. The Kimono Girls bow gracefully and decline an encore. Afterwards, they retreat to the back of the stage, allowing the curtains to fall, hiding them from view once more. Mai brings her hands to her face and is surprised to find they are wet with tears.

The imageries evoke by the dance persists for hours, as does the feeling of wonder.

* * *

On the last night of the Obon Festival, the girls sit at the edge of Poliwag Pond to wait for the Daimonji. The last ray of the sun fades and shadows fall. The night is cool and a scent of the earlier rain lingers in the air. Curls of smoke rise in the distance; the natives are burning one last round of incense for ancestors and their pokémon.

When it has become almost completely dark, bonfires are lit in the distance in predetermined patterns, emblazoning fiery pictograms into the night sky and the distant silhouettes of surrounding mountains. Down below, people begin standing up, handing paper lanterns to the poliwag and poliwhirl by the edge of the pond. The lanterns are then placed in the water, their flames providing a nice contrast to the reflections of the bonfire.

Mai gets up to get a better look, watching as the lanterns glide smoothly into a connecting river and pass out of sight, though they are soon replaced by more. She gives a soft sigh. Perhaps it is the knowledge that spirits abound tonight; she can almost sense the presence of Ecruteak ancestors, haunting the world they had once inhabited.

_Hey there._

Mai glances up to stare directly at a haunter. She is startled, though not frightened. Wild pokémon in the National Park sometimes talk to humans. Why not the wild ghost pokémon in Ecruteak City?

"Hello," she says.

_Welcome back!_ the haunter says, its face splitting into a big grin. _We missed you._

Automatically Mai starts to say, "I missed you too," but she stops herself. She has never seen the haunter before. "I don't think we've met before," she says. "I just arrived in Ecruteak City."

_I made no mistake,_ the haunter replies. _I know who you are. But your friends are watching us and I must go. You know where we are. The Burned Tower._

He disappears, just as Keiko comes. She looks around curiously. "I didn't know wild ghosts talk to humans," she says, her sentence clearly a question even without the inflection.

"I wasn't talking to one," Mai lies. "It – it was just making faces at me and then it left."

"Then –" Keiko stops herself, too tactful to press on.

Mai is relatively quiet for the rest of the night, trying and failing to understand the encounter with the haunter. It had been so sure that it knew her, and yet she was equally sure that it was wrong. By the time she gets up to leave with everyone else, however, she is outwardly her normal self again, having resolved to put the incident out of her mind.

Indeed, back in her bed, Mai has no trouble falling asleep, nor does she dream.


	2. Classes Begin

**Two**

**Classes Begin**

On the first day of classes, Mai wakes up early, feeling both nervous and excited. She could barely eat during breakfast, nor can the other first years. They watch with wide eyes as the older girls enter the cafeteria. It is the first time that they meet the upper class students, who had been on vacation until the night before.

The Dance Theater divides its dancers into seven different grades, from which three different classes are formed. The first years comprise the junior class, the second through fourth years the intermediate class, and the fourth through seventh years the senior class. Mai would later learn that the students attend classes and share dormitories with members of the same grade, but they perform dances with members of the same class.

The girls in the intermediate class do not look much older than the girls in junior class, though they conduct themselves with much more assurance and maturity. The girls in senior class, however, resemble fledgling Kimono Girls, both in their slender statue and their graceful movements. It is from this class that future Kimono Girls will be selected, staying at the Theater to serve as alternates until the current generation of dancers retire.

The Kimono Girls, who technically form their own class, are nowhere to be seen. According to Keiko, they have their own cafeteria and dance facilities at the Theater. Thus they associate with the other classes only when the headmistress deems it necessary. This morning is one of those exceptions. After breakfast has been served, the door to the cafeteria opens. Everyone turns to watch the young woman who enters.

Mai immediately recognizes her as one of the Kimono dancers from the carnival. As she had during the dance, she is wearing a purple kimono. It is a beautiful kimono, depicting a mountain during sunrise, the dark purple at the bottom of the robes giving way to more reddish shades at the top. Today, instead of carrying an umbrella, she is accompanied by an espeon, who looks every bit as proud and arrogant as his mistress.

"That's the lead dancer, Naomi," Keiko says. "And that is her espeon, Prince."

Naomi sweeps in, responding to the bows presented to her by the other classes with curt nods. She comes to a stop before the first years' table, where everyone, except for Keiko, is too awed to move. Mai stares, a piece of pickle still in her mouth. Naomi is very pretty, her oval face exquisitely made up. In a fluid motion, she sets down a stack of laminated cards next to the porridge bowl in the center of the table.

"Hello," she says. "My name is Naomi, the leader of the Kimono Girls. You may address me as 'big sister.' Here are your schedule cards. The headmistress will be expecting you in her office before your first class, so I suggest that you finish up soon as you should not be late. Be sure to address her as 'madame.' Welcome to the Kimono Dance Theater."

Without waiting for a response, she leaves to talk to the other tables. Her visits are similarly brief and before long she leaves, as subtly dramatic as she had come.

Still absorbing what has just transpired, the girls at the first year table are silent until Chiyo says, "Wow."

The spell cast by Naomi is broken. Keiko, the quickest to recover, laughs and begins passing around the schedule cards. Hana and Akina look as if they have just awoken from a hypnotic sleep. Mai suddenly remembers that she has yet to swallow the piece of pickle in her mouth. She swallows and bends over her schedule card, somewhat amused to see that it is rendered in a traditional scroll style, though typewritten.

_9.00 – 10.00: History, Unsho Sato_

_10.00 – 11.00: Battle Theory, Hotaka Morioka_

_11.00 – 12.00: Music, Yoneko Yamamoto_

_12.00 – 13.00: Lunch_

_13.00 – 14.30: Literature, Kazuko Nakamura_

_14.30 – 17.00: Dance, Tamao Takahashi_

_17.00 – 18.00: Community_

_18.00 – 19.00: Dinner_

An accompanying map of the Dance Theater campus neatly marks the location of each classroom, as well as the main buildings on campus. There is no time to pore too deeply over the schedule card, however. Akina remarks that it is a quarter past eight, causing a general scramble at the table. Somehow, the girls manage to leave the cafeteria without making too much of a mess.

After a few false starts due to their collective inability to read the old-style map and the strange landscape of the Theater, the five members of junior class find themselves standing outside the door to the headmistress's office.

* * *

_Tamao Takahashi,_ it reads on the plaque mounted on the wooden door. Mai has met the headmistress only once, during her audition. The stage had been dimly lit then, so she did not catch a good view of the woman's face. But everyone in the dance world knows that Tamao is a legend. She had been a famous Kimono Girl in her prime, the descendant of a long line of Kimono Girls. In fact, her mother had been headmistress when she attended the Theater. After retirement, she went abroad to teach, picking up her title as "Madame Tamao," before returning to take over the management of the Dance Theater.

Hana knocks. The door opens. "Come in please," Tamao says quietly.

The girls shuffle inside. The headmistress's office is simply decorated, with a desk, two chairs, and a few framed pictures on the walls. There is no carpet, only bare wooden floor. An umbreon sits on the windowsill, looking out at the lake behind the building. It does not acknowledge the newcomers.

Tamao closes the door. She is a tall woman dressed in a dark red kimono, her hair pulled back into a severe bun. Once she must have been beautiful, and even in her late thirties she retains her striking features. Her eyes scan over each of the girls' faces carefully before she addresses them.

"Welcome to the Dance Theater," she says. "I am Tamao Takahashi, your headmistress and dance instructor. It is an honor for me to meet all of you. You have proven yourselves without doubt to possess the most talent this year and I am quite sure that you will all become fine dancers in your own right."

Her tone is soft, but very firm. Mai recognizes that she will be a strict teacher.

"As you may have seen from your schedule cards, your lessons at the Dance Theater will be a departure from the lessons you had received in the past," Tamao continues. "The dance medium of a Kimono Girl is quite different from other dance mediums. One cannot fully interpret a dance without being solidly schooled in its context, which is why the bulk of your classes are geared toward culture. Furthermore, music in our dances is quite minimal, serving only as accompaniment. Therefore you will be schooled in music as well so that you could understand the nuances behind every note. Finally, ceremonial battles are at the heart of the Kimono Girl culture, and hence you will be expected to be proficient in pokémon battling.

"I will tell you right now that the dance training will be very rigorous. You will start by learning the very basics of traditional dance. To fully master every technique I teach you, you will be expected to devote hours to practice every day, on top of your lessons and homework. I will track your progress very carefully and will not hesitate to tell you if you are underperforming. That said, your training will be very rewarding."

She smiles for the first time.

"As Keiko can tell you, the Dance Theater put on a yearly spring dance festival, open to the residents of Ecruteak City. For the first year dancers, this festival is a great opportunity to showcase your dance abilities and everything you have learned thus far. By tradition, we will enact the story of the Burned Tower. One of you will be selected to be Ho-oh, the lead dancer, and the rest of you will portray the three legendary beasts. It is a dance that all the townspeople look forward to and I expect all of you to train very hard."

The girls look at each other uncertainly. She has named four roles, yet there are five first year dancers. Has she miscounted?

Tamao reads their minds correctly. "I did not make a mistake," she says. "There will be only four first year dancers by the time of the spring dance festival. I will see you in the afternoon," she says, opening the door. The girls start shuffling out. "Oh, and Mai Poplar. If I may have a quick word with you please."

Heart pounding, Mai watches the others leave, though she avoids their looks of curiosity and sympathy. She feels a sense of foreboding, especially in light of the spring dance announcement. She couldn't have displeased Tamao already. She could not be the fifth dancer.

"What is it, Madame?" she asks, when they are alone.

"Just a stray question of little importance, though I'd appreciate if you could indulge my curiosity," Tamao says. "You are not originally from Johto, are you?"

"No," she replies hesitantly. "I was born in Unova."

"Oh?" The headmistress narrows her eyes in suspicion. "Then why have you come here?"

"I was adopted," Mai says. It is the truth, if not the entire answer.

Tamao's expression softens somewhat. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Green and dark eyes meet. Mai looks away first and shrugs. Her adoption has never been a secret. It comes up from time to time, usually when strangers casually ask why she looks nothing like her parents. To her, it is no big deal. There is a clear distinction between the living and the dead. Mother and Father exist only in pictures. Mom is her mom and Dad is her dad.

"You better run along to class now," Tamao says, with a tone of finality. "You would not want to be late to Teacher Sato's class. He will not forget the affront."

Fortunately, Mai arrives in history class before the vengeful Teacher Sato. The other girls are all too eager to learn about what happened.

"I don't know," Mai says honestly, not having had much time to digest what happened. She retells the conversation as best as she could without disclosing her family background. Before anyone could postulate, Teacher Sato comes in, and they are forced to return to their desks.

"I bet it's nothing," Keiko says comfortingly, while the teacher is writing his name on the board. "Madame is probably just double-checking that you actually are a Johto resident. Only girls who live in Johto could apply to the Dance Theater. She didn't single you out because she doesn't like you, otherwise you wouldn't be here in the first place. Don't worry about it."

But Mai, remembering Tamao's dark piercing eyes, isn't convinced.

* * *

The rest of the day goes by smoothly. Indeed, the rest of the week goes by smoothly. Tamao never again referred to the conversation she had with Mai and did not treat her any differently in dance class. In fact, she praised Mai's extension a few times in dance class. As Tamao has proven to be stingy with compliments, her words never fail to leave the girl with a warm glow.

So far, it is a decent start to her semester, as far as classes go. In music, they are learning to play the shamisen, an instrument not wholly unlike the electric guitars that some Goldenrod DJs plays on television. In literature, they are studying poetry, including a collection of poems written by Tamao Takahashi in her girlhood. History class is rather interesting. Somehow – and Mai is still trying to put her finger on _how_ – Teacher Sato could render the most exciting of legends dull, and Chiyo is the only person in the grade to stay awake throughout the duration of class.

As much as Mai enjoys those classes, albeit for different reasons, she could already see her limits as far as her academic talents are concerned. She will never create masterpieces on three strings, like her shamisen teacher, nor will she compose stunning poems. Battle theory, at least, is more familiar territory. Memorizing pokémon type matchups and names of common pokémon is not so hard when she spent her childhood, like most of her neighborhood friends, play-fighting with stuffed pokémon or unfortunate wild rattata. Of course, her true forte, as she has always known, lies in dance. The simplest movements in dance give her a sense of joy and freedom that no other subject could awaken.

There are no classes on Saturday or Sunday. After breakfast and two hours of morning dance practice, the girls are lounging around in their courtyard garden when Keiko suggests visiting the Burned Tower. "We are going to perform our spring dance to its legend!" Keiko says. "Trust me, you will want to see it for yourself than learn about it from Teacher Sato."

"I'd rather go shopping!" Chiyo says. "One of the girls in the intermediate class told me she got the cutest stuffed pokédoll from a street vendor downtown."

Hana and Akina agree. "Besides," Akina adds, "isn't the Burned Tower supposed to be haunted?"

Mai sits up, reminded of the haunter's request from the night of the Daimonji. "I will come with you, Keiko!" she blurts out, lest her friend caves in and goes shopping as well.

The Burned Tower is located in the northwest corner of Ecruteak City. It sits on a small hill, nestled within a small forest where half the trees seem to be evergreen and half the trees have begun turning yellow. Mai has only seen pictures of the Burned Tower in books and finds that it looks even less impressive in person. It might have once looked grand, since it was the mirror image of the famed Bell Tower, before a great fire had rendered it unrecognizable. Only one story remains, the other stories having collapsed with the roof. A scent of smoke permeates the area.

Before they could go inside, they come across the three travelers. On first glance, they look no different from the other travelers who come to Ecruteak City. There are two boys and a girl, all in their late teens, wearing large backpacks, and sporting pokéball belts. One of the boys has a bright orange cap and the other has a sunburned nose. The girl has very large and pale eyes. They are talking animatedly to each other, not noticing Mai or Keiko at first.

"No, Simon, this is the _Burned_ Tower," Pale Eyes is saying to one of the boys. "We want the _Bell_ Tower. There's a difference. I _know_ we shouldn't have followed you!"

Sunburned Nose is tapping his touch screen guidebook irritably. "Well, it doesn't matter either way, Jackie," he says. "Haven't you read the guidebook at all? Only a very special few will be admitted into the Bell Tower."

"_We_ would be admitted," Jackie retorts. "We _have_ the Rain –"

"Hello," Orange Cap interrupts, noticing the girls. He shoots Jackie a warning glare.

"Oh, hello there," she says, unabashed. "I think you will be able to tell us. We are a bit lost and my companions are _wholly_ unhelpful. Where could we find the Bell Tower?"

Mai looks at Keiko, who points. "The gateway is on the other side of town, to the east."

"As _I_ thought," Jackie says smugly. "And where might we find the – oh, _what_ is it called, Simon?"

"Let _me_ see," Orange Cap says, leaning over Sunburned Nose's shoulder. "Ah yes, the Kimono Dance Theater."

Mai and Keiko exchange a startled look. "Well, it's that way," Keiko says, pointing a different direction now. "If you head toward the pokémon center along Main Street, you will pass by the entrance on your left."

"Great, thanks," says Jackie. Without consulting her companions again, she turns and walks away in exaggerated strides. A few seconds later, Tim and Simon follow, muttering to each other.

"That's weird," Mai remarks, after they are out of earshot. "I wonder why they want to come to the Dance Theater." Or the Bell Tower, she supposes, but the latter location does not register in her mind as strongly.

"We are a landmark of Ecruteak City, after all, why wouldn't they?" Keiko says proudly. "C'mon, let's go inside. I want to show you around!"

Mai agrees and proceeds to forget all about the three travelers until they reappear at the Kimono Dance Theater.


	3. Strangers Come to Town

_THANK YOU for all the support so far, everyone!_

* * *

**Three**

**Stranger Come to Town**

In Mai's opinion, the Burned Tower is a cauterized wound on an otherwise beautiful historical city. The ground floor is rather dim, illuminated only by light filtering through the cracks in the walls. There are holes in the floorboards, through which the cellar could be seen, and the pillars that had once proudly bore the upper floors are horribly charred.

The atmosphere is just as grim. Compared with the other Ecruteak City attractions, the tourists are much sparser here. The only other people here are two giggling girls taking pictures of each other in a corner, a couple holding hands as they gaze at one of the pillars, and a small tour group in the back.

The girls stop when they reach the center of the floor. Keiko is expecting some sort of response and Mai tries to find something nice to say. She finally settles for an honest, "This place is interesting."

It is all the confirmation that her friend needs. "Yeah, isn't this place amazing?" she says. "I've been here on field trips many times for class, whenever we learn about the Great Fire."

"The _Great_ Fire?" repeats Mai. "You mean the fire that burned this place down?"

Keiko nods. "It's such an amazing story. Nobody knows for sure how the fire started, though most people say there was a big storm and a lightning bolt struck the tower. Once the fire got going, it was too strong for anyone to put out." She speaks as if reciting form a textbook. "Three pokémon perished. Then this beautiful, magnificent bird flew out from the Bell Tower and brought them back to life, and they were endowed with the essence of lightning, fire, and rain."

"It must've been quite a sight," Mai says, recreating the scene in her mind's eye. She imagines the destruction and then the resurrection. There is something about pokémon legends that captures her imagination. She runs a finger gently down one of the pillars. The burn marks are old. "The fire must have happened a long time ago."

"Almost two hundred years ago."

"Has anyone ever considered renovating this place?" Mai asks. Keiko raises her eyebrows questioningly. "You know, restore it to what it used to look like, or build a new building altogether. We did that in Goldenrod City. Our radio tower was built on top of an old tower."

Keiko frowns. "I heard the city council actually considered renovating the Tower in the past, but the Elder was very adamantly against it."

"Why?"

"Well, the Elder is right, you know." Keiko looks serious. "It is a bad idea to go against the will of nature. Besides, it's a historical monument in Ecruteak and we are all very fond of it."

They head to the back of the room and come to a stop beside a crumbling staircase that leads downstairs. At least, it led downstairs at one point. Now the stairs look as if they would collapse under the weight of a feather.

"What's in the cellar?" Mai asks.

"Just a lot of ghost pokémon, apparently," Keiko says.

Mai remembers the haunter. "Ghosts?"

"Yup. They usually don't come out during daytime, though. My older brother did say that if you come here at night, you could see all the ghosts and hear them tell stories of their past."

"Has anyone tried it?" Mai says dubiously.

"Big brother said he did, but he was probably just saying it," Keiko says. "We could go downstairs and check it out. Do you want to? The stairs aren't as fragile as they look," she adds, interpreting Mai's expression correctly. "I mean, they used to be, and then someone tried going downstairs and broke his neck."

Someone broke his neck! Mai backs away.

"Relax," Keiko says, giggling. "We reconstructed it. It just _looks _old, but it's just to go along with the look of the building."

Mai does not feel reassured, feeling that Keiko's explanation lacks logic. Why could they renovate the stairs, and not the Tower? Keiko, in order to prove her point, gingerly steps on the stairs. It holds her weight and does not even sway. "See?" she says. "It's safe. Want to see the cellar?"

The cellar looks no different from the ground floor. There is a big rectangular crater in the center, and a few sets of staircase cut into stone that no longer lead anywhere. Much of the cellar is also blocked by fallen debris and boulders, so there really is not much space where they could move around.

"Do you know that the cellar is cut into the hill?" Mai does not know. "Well, I heard a lot of beautiful artwork used to be stored down here, and treasures from the olden days, because the cellar makes a good storage space," Keiko says, as they walk around, carefully not to trip over stray stones and sticks. "And you see that crater? My grandmother said that a couple of decades ago, this mystic came here and claimed that Suicune was living in there."

"In the crater? Was it really?"

"Who knows? Our gym leader went downstairs to explore with him, but they didn't find anything. So the guy left and nobody ever heard from him again." Keiko grins. "This sort of thing happens here all the time. You know, people come and claim that there is some legendary pokémon hiding out in Ecruteak."

"Oh…do you believe them?"

Keiko shrugs. "Why not? Legendaries must be somewhere, right? And if legendaries would come to any city, wouldn't they come to Ecruteak?"

Mai has to agree. Ecruteak has an aura that makes it the perfect sanctuary for legends.

"Besides," Keiko says, "it's not just people who come from _outside_ the city. People who live here see them too! Some of the older people will tell you stories of when they saw these pokémon. It's all quite interesting. I bet no other city has this many legendary sightings!"

Mai smiles, though she doubts the veracity of these claims.

They stay in the cellar for a few more minutes, Keiko chattering on the whole time. Mai's attention wanders. The haunter she talked to is nowhere to be seen. Indeed, there is no ghost pokémon anywhere to be seen. She thinks over the haunter's implied request again. Is she supposed to come at night, the way Keiko's brother supposedly saw ghosts? The Dance Theater's curfew aside, Mai isn't sure she'd be comfortable spending nighttime in this building, and she isn't one to be easily spooked.

Keiko concludes the tour of the cellar after another anecdote. They go upstairs and head out into the sunlight. Mai checks her watch. It is a bit past noon.

"Hey!" Keiko says. "Let's get lunch at my favorite sushi place. They have the weirdest ice cream flavors!"

Mai perks up, having craved real, unhealthy sugar ever since she tired of the cafeteria's ascetic menu. Not to mention her stomach is growling for food.

"Count me in!"

* * *

Keiko's sushi restaurant is located in a part of Ecruteak City that could readily be described as a maze of alleys. Mai doubts that she can find her way around even with the help of a map and is thankful that she has Keiko as a guide.

The place is small and the seating quite limited. There is already a long line of people waiting outside. Mai begins to suggest that they look for another place, since they passed a few other sushi restaurants on their way, when Keiko bypasses the line altogether, ignoring the indignant shouts of those less bold.

Mai stands outside in bemusement until Keiko pokes her head back out. "Aren't you coming?"

"Keiko, we are supposed to wait in line!"

"_We_ don't," Keiko says. "Besides, I got a table for us already."

Dumbly, Mai follows Keiko inside, where a waiter leads them to the back of the restaurant. A small table has been set with place settings for two people. There are lanterns along the wall. The waiter bows as they seat, disappears behind a curtain, and reappears with two cups of tea and two menus, all within the span of a minute.

Distracted by the menu, Mai decides not to ask Keiko about their luck and peruses the possible rolls instead. Everything looks delicious and she is grateful that her parents had given her a generous allowance for her use in Ecruteak City. She has already spent quite a lot of money on food after just two weeks of being here, even though Ecruteak food prices are nowhere as high as food prices in Goldenrod.

Service is prompt, for a crowded restaurant manned by two visible waiters and hidden chefs, and food tastes as good as they look. The rice and seaweed are seasoned just enough to bring out the fresh taste of seafood. Once they finish all the rolls, it is time for dessert. Keiko has not been exaggerating about the weird flavors. Some of them don't even seem edible, like autumn leaves, kimono dance, or Elder's favorite apple.

Because they are indecisive, Mai and Keiko end up ordering quite a selection of ice cream. Then Keiko excuses herself to use the restroom, leaving Mai to admire the multicolored scoops of dairy and sugar when they arrive.

"Wow, those look amazing!" a girl from a nearby table comments. She seems to be on a date with the boy sitting across from her. "What did you order?"

"Almost everything on the menu," Mai says.

"Really?" the girl says, looking down at her own menu dubiously. "I only see vanilla, chocolate, red bean, and green tea. Hey Steve," she says, turning to her boyfriend. "Maybe you could try asking for a different menu?"

"Mmm, these look delicious," Keiko says, returning. "What's wrong, Mai?"

Mai explains the conversation she had with the neighboring girl, whose boyfriend is now trying to explain to the waiter that they would like more flavors.

"Oh, that," Keiko says, digging into the autumn leaf ice cream merrily. "It's no use asking, really. Most people in the restaurant don't have access to the extra flavors."

Mai tries to digest this with her dessert. "So there are two types of menus?" she says.

"Yeah, for two types of people, insiders and outsiders," Keiko says. "Insiders get special treatment. Outsiders don't. _We_ are insiders, of course."

Understanding dawns on Mai. She feels warm inside, being considered an insider. Whether this practice is fair or not does not really occur to her.

"So how do people know if they are insiders or outsiders?" she asks with interest, different scenarios running through her head. When Keiko looks puzzled, she tries to explain. "Like what if you are an insider at one restaurant and not an insider at another? How do you know if you'll get special treatment at the place you go to?"

Keiko is staring at her as if she's crazy. "That doesn't happen in Ecruteak City. You are either an insider or you are an outsider. It doesn't change from place to place."

"Yeah, but how do you know what you are in the first place?" Mai presses on.

Keiko gives an exaggerated sigh. "You just _are_," she says, and changes the topic entirely.

* * *

The travelers arrive at the Kimono Dance Theater on an afternoon, the Monday after Autumnal Equinox. Momoko, Tamao's secretary, comes looking for her during first year dance class. She looks surprisingly uncomfortable for someone with a reputation for being cool and collected. Her interruption does not please the headmistress.

"Momoko, what is the meaning of this?" she demands.

"I am very, very sorry to interrupt," Momoko says. She sounds out of breath. "Your presence is requested at the office. Immediately."

Tamao raises her eyebrows. "My class ends in five minutes," she says. "Surely this can wait."

Momoko wrings her hands, obviously unwilling to discuss the matter in front of an audience. When Tamao does not budge, however, she sighs. "I'm afraid not," she says. "The Elder is here."

Mai raises her head in time to see a look of alarm pass over Tamao's face. "In that case, class will be dismissed early today," she tells her students, without missing a beat. "Please finish the last exercise on your own."

With that, she is gone. It is a testament to her authority that the girls actually stay to finish the stretching exercise before they head to the locker room to change and discuss the strange turn of events. As it turns out, without further information, there is not much to discuss. Even Keiko concedes that however unusual, it is not impossible for the Ecruteak Elder to leave his abode in the Bell Tower. Being such a powerful figure, who is to stop him from visiting anyone he wants? Furthermore, if the Elder were to visit anyone in Ecruteak City, Tamao is certainly one of the more logical choices.

While Chiyo and Hana, the most opinionated of the five, engage in a heated debate anyway, Mai has a vague recollection of having heard the Elder, the Bell Tower, and the Dance Theater discussed in the same context, though she does not place a finger on it until dinnertime. The cafeteria is noticeably rowdier than usual. Apparently the entire Theater has heard about the Elder's visit, even though it is something that is unlikely to be advertised by either Tamao or Momoko. Many theories are thrown around, mostly for entertainment. Surely the Elder is not planning to join the Theater as a trainee, nor is he professing his undying passion for Tamao.

Eventually, they learn that Rikuyo, a round-faced girl of the intermediate class, had been waiting outside Tamao's office for an appointment when the Elder arrived. "And," she announces, delivering her punch line triumphantly, "he was not alone."

The crowd is not easily impressed at first. "So what?" challenges Sachi, the girl who had proposed the undying passion theory. "The Elder probably brought one of the Sages. Big deal."

Rikuyo glares at Sachi. "No, there were people _in addition_ to the Sage," she says, seeming just short of stomping her foot for emphasis. "They were pokémon trainers."

"How do you know they are trainers?"

"_Because,"_ she says dramatically. "I mean, they carry pokéballs, they have those gigantic backpacks that can carry everything, and they have awful, awful fashion sense. In what world is it a good idea to wear an orange cap with a bright green sweater?"

Mai yelps as Keiko seizes her arm in excitement. Too intimidated by the older girls to join in the gossip, they keep silent until they are heading back to their dormitory. "That must be them!" Keiko says. "From the Burned Tower."

"What are you talking about?" Akina says. "You mean Rikuyo isn't just making those people up?"

"No…not this time anyway. Mai and I ran into them that day when we visited the Burned Tower," Keiko says. "They wanted to visit the Bell Tower but then asked us for directions to the Theater also. Right?"

She turns to Mai for confirmation and Mai nods.

"So mystery solved, I guess," Hana says, sounding a little disappointed. "They probably wanted to discuss something with the Elder and Madame, so they all came here."

"I think it's much more complicated than that, Hana," Chiyo says. "What could they possibly discuss that is so important that the Elder has to personally come here? He could've asked Madame to go there. Besides, I don't know if you pay attention in history class, but the Elder of Ecruteak City never receives just any visitors."

"So you're saying those three people pulled some strings to trick the Elder into talking with them, but then he's happy to bring them to Madame," Hana says, rolling her eyes. "Right, totally makes sense."

"Whatever it is," Akina breaks in, lest Chiyo and Hana get into another heated disagreement, "we will probably never find out. So let's just drop this topic."

Akina turns out to be the farthest from the truth.


	4. Past to Present

**Four**

**Past to Present**

By daybreak, the news is public knowledge. Mai wakes up to find Hana and Chiyo in front of their dormitory's public computer, reconciled and logged onto the _Ecruteak Daily Digest_ website. In answer to Mai's baffled look, they point to the screen, where an article is loaded.

For a headliner, the actual article is quite short and leaves much to imagination. It reads, _It has been announced that Timothy Dragonweed, of Eterna City has been approved by the Ecruteak Elder of the Bell Tower and Tamao Takahashi of the Kimono Dance Theater to participate in the Rainbow Reckoning. His challenge begins on Sunday with a battle against Morty, the Ecruteak Gym Leader._ There are two pictures side-by-side: one of Orange Cap grinning against the backdrop of a snow-capped mountain, the other of Morty standing outside his gym.

In history class, Teacher Sato finds himself vainly trying to teach the history of kimono dance to a group of girls more interested in the present than the past. Finally, he sets down the chalk with a deep sigh. "Since you are set on not paying attention to my carefully prepared lesson," he says, "I will expect a five-page essay on the history of kimono dancing tomorrow, to be graded as an exam. Class is dismissed."

The girls quiet immediately and look at each other. This is the second time that class has been dismissed in two days, though this time they also have the distasteful prospect of writing an essay exam. Then Chiyo, who is the teacher's undisputed favorite, bravely comes to the rescue.

"We apologize for our impertinence, Teacher Sato," she says sweetly. "We are just wondering…in light of what will be happening on Sunday, which you must know a lot about, perhaps you could tell us more about the Rainbow Reckoning, because you know, it isn't, um, _unrelated_ to kimono dancing."

Her reasoning is a bit of a stretch, but the girls hold their breath. Their history teacher gives another deep sigh and, to their surprise and relief, nods.

"All right, there is no point in wasting precious class time if I can impart my knowledge," Teacher Sato says. "And indeed, as Chiyo has cleverly guessed, I _am_ quite a scholar in the Rainbow Reckoning, second to none in the field. What would you like to know?"

"Well," Chiyo says, glancing at the other girls for assistance, "what is the Rainbow Reckoning?"

"Ah, well, the Rainbow Reckoning is a ceremony unique to Ecruteak City," replies Teacher Sato. Mai turns to Keiko, who shoots the teacher a look of bemusement. "No, you will not have heard of it, Keiko. The last Rainbow Reckoning occurred twenty years ago. None of you had yet been born. I, of course, was already a famous published scholar, specially invited to be observer and historian to the event."

He smiles in self-satisfaction, as if recalling a treasured memory, and strokes his whiskers. Then he remembers that he has an audience of five girls to whom he must lecture.

"Now, to understand what the Rainbow Reckoning, we must delve deeply into Ecruteak City's history. This city, as you should have learned from my lessons, is a mystical city, blessed with close ties to the legends. A long time ago, we constructed two towers in our city. The golden Brass Tower, now known as the Burned Tower, to honor the sea guardian Lugia, and the silver Tin Tower, now known as the Bell Tower, to honor the sky guardian Ho-oh.

"There was, as you learned two weeks ago, the Great Fire, which destroyed the Brass Tower. Lugia, whose home was destroyed, flew away to the Whirl Islands, never to return. Ho-oh, deprived of its companion, flew away as well, but not before resurrecting the three pokémon now known to us as the three legendary beasts. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. They roam the land far and wide, and few trainers who perceive them could deny their glory. Yes, indeed, the power of lightning, of fire, and of rain, such grace and sheer power in one body…incidentally, they were the topic of my thesis in my doctoral program when I studied at Celadon. Since then, I have written many books on them, given conferences on them far and wide. Perhaps I have even seen them in my wide travelers, for I _am_ worthy of their notice. Now, where am I."

Mai catches Chiyo's eye and they grin at each other. As is usually the case with Teacher Sato's lectures, he gets carried away by a tangential train of thought. And as is usually the case, Teacher Sato manages to find his way back to his original point.

"Ah yes, Ho-oh. Well, as you should also know from my lectures, Ho-oh leaves too, though for a different reason than Lugia. It retains its roost in Ecruteak City, to which it comes back from time to time. Meanwhile, it wanders all over Johto in search of a pure-hearted trainer, a trainer it deems worthy of itself. It is said that once it has found such a trainer, it will let loose a feather for the trainer to find, a feather that has been named the Rainbow Wing for its beautiful color. And yes, it is from the Rainbow Wing that the name of the Rainbow Reckoning is derived."

Teacher Sato picks up his thermos and takes a sip of his tea. He is clearly getting into his lecture and so too, for a change, are his students.

"As heretofore mentioned, I was a witness of the Rainbow Reckoning that took place twenty years ago," he says. "It always begins with a trainer who comes to the Elder bearing the Rainbow Wing. A common misconception is that the trainer gains admittance to Ho-oh immediately. Not so! The Rainbow Wing merely means that the trainer is a candidate, whose worth must be tested before he can ascend to the top of the Bell Tower to wait for Ho-oh. Thus, the trainer must go through tests in three different areas. First, the test of the Ecruteak gym leader, to assess his skill. Second, the test of the Kimono Girls, to assess his soul. Third and last, the test of the Ecruteak Elder, to assess his strength. Only when he succeeds in all three tests can he be allowed to climb the Bell Tower, a trial in and of itself, to battle Ho-oh."

He smiles. "It was quite exhilarating, twenty years ago, to see the young challenger battle his way through the three tests. Yes, that young challenger was very talented, and though not determined enough, for he never made it to Ho-oh. Nonetheless, his adventure lives on immortal in my book, _The Legend of the Rainbow_. It was a best-seller then, mind you, four thousand copies sold in one day, though the Elder requested that its publication be limited to the Ecruteak academic circle, lest our secrets be leaked to others. And I agreed, you see, without hesitation, for I understood my duty to the Elder, to my fellow Ecruteak dwellers, and to Ho-oh! There is no question that had I been younger, _I_, Unsho Sato, could have gone through the Rainbow Reckoning. Yet I am old and wise, and instead I shall have the rare privilege of witnessing the Rainbow Reckoning a second time."

His voice trails off and he sips his tea again, seemingly lost in his own world. Mai checks her watch. Yes, it is _almost _the end of class. Now if class could just end before –

"Ah yes!" Teacher Sato surveys his class. "Do not forget! Five-page essay exam due tomorrow. Class is hereby dismissed."

* * *

"Chiyo made a good try, in any case," Keiko says, sneezing as she releases a cloud of dust from an old book.

"It was good to hear about the Rainbow Reckoning," Mai agrees. "But I would still rather not write the essay at all."

They are sitting inside the library after dance practice. Chiyo, Hana, and Akina have already gone back, each with her own selection of books, to finish their essays in the dormitory. Mai had considered doing the same, but she knows that she would never have the willpower to do anything but sleep if she were back in her room. Already she is so tired from two hours of dancing that she is practically asleep. Keiko is the only one who is taking the assignment in stride, the teachers having been equally strict in her old dance school.

Mai glances down at her essay, with only one and a half pages written, not all of which is necessarily legible or coherent. _The history of kimono dancing,_ it starts,_ considered by many scholars to be a sacred art of sorts, started a long, really long time ago, for young women to express their connection with nature and pokémon, and became very popular for its grace and beauty_. _The practitioners of the dance believe that the ambiance of the dance can reflect much about the environment and endow the dancers with superhuman powers! _The essay goes on, riddled with similar exaggerations, and eventually ends with, _And really, nobody is sure what happened, but somehow kimono dance survives only in Ecruteak City, the tradition passed on between generations and generations of Kimono Girls, but I'm not sure why I care because I'm so tired._

She gives her head a slight shake – did she really write the last few words? – and stands up. The fluorescent lighting in the study room is not helping. "I need to take a walk," she tells Keiko.

Keiko gets up too. "I will come with. I'm just about done but I can't think of a good conclusion. Should I –" She stops at the murderous look that Mai shoots her.

It is very quiet in the library, for they are the only ones left. The students of the Dance Theater usually do not study there on weekday nights. The library is situated far away from the dormitory cluster and the dance studios, in an area of campus that is not very well-lit. Combined with the fact that it is surrounded by a thicket of trees, it could be the perfect setting for a horror movie. The girls of the Dance Theater think so as well and urban legends surrounding the library are passed down from class to class. Teachers are generally good about assigning research assignments over the weekends. Unsho Sato, on the other hand, can be quite unreasonable when he feels that his ego has been dealt a blow.

The building itself looks strangely modern, having been renovated since Tamao took over as headmistress. The windows are large and the doors are made of glass. There are four floors, the study rooms located in the basement. Mai has figured out since her first visit to the library that there is no real catalogue system in the library. The only pattern she could discern is that the books on the higher floors tend to be older and dustier than the books on the lower floors.

They come to a rest in the main lobby, which is decorated as a montage to past Kimono Girls. Names of former dancers are inscribed in plaques mounted on the walls, nestled in a sea of newspaper clippings, past performance programs, and many photographs and paintings. In the past, Mai has never examined them too closely. For some reason she cannot quite explain, there is something grotesque about capturing the Kimono dancers in frozen media.

Tonight, she takes a closer look at the dance programs, focusing on the ones from Tamao's generation. The headmistress was radiantly beautiful as a young woman. In many pictures she was front and center, evidently and unsurprisingly the lead dancer back in her day. Mai notices something.

"Keiko, why –" she begins, but Keiko shushes her.

"Listen."

At first Mai hears nothing, and then, the sound of leaves being crunched and two girls talking. "I tell you, I can't do it," one girl is saying. Mai and Keiko look out of one of the windows. Two figures attired in kimono are passing. The speaker is dressed in purple and her companion is dressed in yellow. They are heading out of the woods.

"Stop being so dramatic, Naomi," says the other girl, whom Mai has learned to be Tooka, another Kimono Girl. "We can't back out now."

"I did not agree. I never agreed to do _this_."

"Yes, you did!" Tooka sounds exasperated. "If you do not recall, I certainly remember. We all remember. The final decision had to be approved by you."

"Perhaps that was the case then. Now it doesn't feel right." Their voices are now fading, becoming indistinct. "I just have a bad feeling…"

The night is quiet once more. Keiko turns away while Mai continues to stare into the darkness, almost spacing out until she sees disembodied glowing rings. She leaps back, remembering horror stories told by upperclasswoman, and almost crashes into Keiko. But they merely turn out to be the rings of an umbreon, who fixes her with a wrathful look before its sinewy body dissolves into the night.

"You okay?" Keiko says. "What was that about?"

"Nothing…I thought – never mind."

"Weird, isn't it?" says her friend, starting to head back toward the staircase. "I didn't realize they are around. The Kimono Girls, I mean. I thought they were supposed to be doing a radio show in Goldenrod. That's what it said on the campus calendar."

"Maybe they didn't leave yet."

"More like Madame summoned them back…I wonder if it's related to the Rainbow Reckoning…"

Mai shrugs, yawning. Recalling her unfinished essay, she finds that Naomi and Tooka no longer seem all that interesting and, to be honest, neither does the Rainbow Reckoning or anything else. "Let's go back," she says. "I have three-and-a-half more pages before bedtime. And if you talk about your essay once more, I may have to murder you."

Keiko laughs. "Fair point," she says. "Both of us should be alive on Sunday, that's for sure."

* * *

_As you could guess, the Rainbow Reckoning is my creation. I embellished Ho-oh's legend with my own backstory. I hope that it isn't too farfetched, so I'd love to hear what you think! Thanks again for reading._


	5. The Test of Skill

_Thanks for the support for the last chapter and enjoy this one - the only full-on battle chapter._

* * *

**Six**

**The Test of Skill**

On Sunday afternoon, people come to the Ecruteak City Gym in droves, much as they had done for the Obon Festival carnival and the Daimonji. Mai studies some of them as she is being swept along by the crowd. Most of them are natives, it seems, though there are a number of tourists and pokémon trainers.

"Don't you ever go see gym battles?" Keiko asks, when Mai expresses her amazement at the packed arena.

"Sure, a couple of times," says Mai, who had always gone with her hometown best friend Jake, pokémon master aspirant. But there is a difference she cannot quite explain. Goldenrod is so much more populated, and Whitney is as popular a gym leader as she had been in girlhood, and yet she has never commanded this level of attention. "I meant…are there more people than usual? You know, because of the Rainbow Reckoning."

"Well, usually the outsiders don't show up," Keiko says, after a moment's consideration. "Gym battles are just a big thing around here."

"You people are weird," Chiyo remarks, which is exactly what Mai is thinking.

She surveys the gym. It is built in a traditional style, a rectangular building consisting of one story, quite different from Whitney's clefairy-shaped gym. There are three rooms, a small reception room, a small backroom, and a center room where everyone is currently awaiting the battle. Most of the floor space in the center room is taken up by a battle arena set in the center. Surrounding it are seats for the spectators. Seated by the row closest to the arena are Tamao and the Ecruteak Elder, accompanied by Momoko and the three Sages.

She squints to get a better look of the Elder, who is somewhat of a mystical figure she has heard mentioned only in passing. Supposedly he directs the city's spiritual life and has the deference of all the temples. In person, however, he looks disappointingly normal and could possibly pass for a kindly grandfather.

Mai takes one last look around as the lights begin to dim. The Kimono Girls are seated a few rows ahead of her and her other schoolmates are scattered about the room. She idly wonders whether Tim's friends are present somewhere, though she only finds the gym's resident ghost pokémon, flitting in and out of the crowd with mischievous grins.

The room is now completely dark and spotlights are focused on the arena. From the shadows beyond, two trainers emerge. Tim is still wearing an orange cap, probably to Rikuyo's chagrin, and Morty has his hands in his pocket, his posture relaxed and confident. A third person steps onto the arena, the referee, who announces, "This match will take place between Timothy Dragonweed of Eterna City and the Ecruteak City gym leader, Morty!" There is polite applause for Tim and a far more enthusiastic one for Morty. "The match will be three-on-three. The gym leader may not switch pokémon. Please select your first pokémon!"

With everyone else, Mai leans forward. Tim bends his head, as if in thought, before he selects a pokéball clipped to his belt. "I choose you!" he shouts.

A large bipedal pokémon bursts out in a flash of red light, greeting everyone with a big roar. A swirl of sand forms around him. Mai does not recognize the pokémon, though she hears a pokédex go off nearby, _Tyranitar, a rock and ground dual-type pokémon. It is extremely strong and its body cannot be harmed by any sort of attack. It has an insolent nature and is eager to make challenge against enemies._

So it is a dark type. Good choice, she thinks, remembering lectures from battle theory. Dark type is good against ghosts.

Morty hesitates momentarily before selecting his own pokémon. "Go, Gengar!"

A large purple ghost materializes in front of the tyranitar. It has a large clown-like smile and red eyes. Mai recognizes this pokémon from the Goldenrod Department Store doll aisle. Nearby, she hears the other ghosts give excited shouts, if the sounds they make could be considered shouts at all.

"Morty's not kidding around," Keiko remarks. "That's his strongest pokémon!"

"Could be a good thing or a bad thing," says Akina.

The referee receives a curt nod from the gym leader. "The challenger has chosen tyranitar and the gym leader has chosen gengar. The challenger shall have the first move. Let the battle begin!"

"Crunch," Tim says calmly.

"Dodge, and then use focus blast!" Morty says.

The tyranitar rushes at the gengar, teeth bared. The gengar steps out of the way, the tyranitar barely managing to graze its side, before it forms a ball of energy in its hands and hurls it at tyranitar. The tyranitar roars and, turning to its side, it deflects the ball with a strong sweep of its tail. The gengar, looking surprised, is then buffeted by the raging sandstorm. It stumbles backwards, red eyes closing momentarily in pain.

Like his pokémon, Morty takes a visible step backwards. Mai cannot tell what is running through his head. She could, on the other hand, tell that the tyranitar must be very strong. It barely looks hurt, though the focus blast attack has technically made contact. "Hypnosis!" Morty shouts.

Gengar's eyes begin to glow. Watching them, Mai feels somewhat sleepy herself. The tyranitar, however, turns away and paws the ground, appearing restless.

"Good, Tyranitar," says Tim. "Time to use stone edge!"

Tyranitar bows its head and curls its arms around its body. Its body glows, storing energy. Soon two concentric circles of rocks appear, spinning around it until they break orbit with their sheer speed and fly toward Gengar. The ghost pokémon, losing concentration in its hypnosis attack, levitates into the air and tries to dodge the rocks, though a few of them make direct contact. Mai watches with perverse fascination as some of the rocks go right _through_ the gengar and others bounce off its intangible body.

Gengar falls to the ground, panting heavily. Tim crosses his arms. "Finish it off," he says. "_Now_ use crunch again."

"Use substitute and get out of the way!" shouts Morty.

Too late. While the gengar is struggling to create a substitute, Tyranitar has already reached its side. There is a shriek – no, maybe a ripple of pain – from the gengar as the tyranitar's teeth sink into its body. Then the gengar is still.

"Gengar is unable to battle," the referee says. "The challenger has three pokémon left. The gym leader has two pokémon left."

"Good work, Tyranitar," Tim says. His pokémon retreats to his trainer's side of the arena.

Morty recalls the gengar and nods.

The audience is silent with palpable tension, especially the ghost spectators. Feeling cold, Mai scoots closer to Keiko. Meanwhile, the gym leader, saying nothing, selects a second pokéball.

The second ghost pokémon looks smaller and thinner than Gengar. It has very strange eyes, which look as if it stuck gemstones in its eye sockets. _Sableye, a ghost and dark dual-type pokémon,_ the nearby pokédex says. _Sableye dwells in the darkness of caves. It has sharp claws, which it uses to dig up gemstones to nourish itself._

Well, that explains the eyes, Mai thinks. The sableye takes a few step forwards. Tim gestures for the gym leader to start the battle.

"Confuse ray!"

A beam of light emits from the gemstone-like eyes of the sableye and hit the tyranitar squarely on its head. It is still for a moment and then, as if possessed, begins scratching at its face and body. Many in the audience gasp and Mai recoils, though thankfully the scene does not last long. Tyranitar is recalled.

"You can finish the job!" Tim says, throwing out another pokéball.

The new pokémon he sends out is also bipedal, with single claws for hands and a weirdly shaped head. The distant pokédex dully identifies the pokémon. _Garchomp, a dragon and ground dual-type pokémon. Its body is covered in fine scales that reduce drag, allowing it to fly at sonic speed._

Dragon and ground, Mai considers, trying to apply battle theory knowledge. There is no immediate type advantage, although the dragon type's sheer power could overwhelm the ghost.

Morty shakes his head, looking like he is clearing his head of a bad thought. His posture no longer looks so relaxed. "Confuse ray again!" he says.

"It's not going to work a second time," says Tim, sounding annoyed. "Garchomp, let's make quick work of this. Dragon rush!"

"Detect!"

The garchomp throws itself against the sableye, who dodges it nimbly, not taking any damage. The dragon pokémon crashes heavily onto the arena, sending shock waves reverberating throughout the room.

Tim orders another dragon rush, to which Morty counters with an order for shadow ball.

Mai's mouth falls open as the garchomp launches itself again at the sableye, his body slicing _through_ the shadow ball attack as if it were of no consequence, and hit the sableye squarely in the stomach. The ghost pokémon tumbles backwards and struggles to its feet, only to be met with a dragon claw attack in the face.

"Shadow sneak!" Morty shouts.

"Dodge it, and dragon claw again!"

The garchomp roars as the shadow sneak attack nears. Then it is surrounded by sand, creating a veil and deflecting the attack. The sand veil disappears and Garchomp emerges, apparently unscathed, going on to launch another dragon claw in Sableye's face. The ghost pokémon falls down.

This time, it does not stir.

"Sableye is unable to battle. The score is now three to one, in the challenger's favor!"

The audience is uneasy and the ghosts are restless. The temperature in the room seems to have dropped even further.

There is a noticeably long pause as Morty selects his final pokémon. He remains silent as he tosses the ball into the air, releasing a large, chunky ghost pokémon that always reminds Mai of a genie. It is a dusknoir, she knows, from watching a broadcast of the Grand Festival a few months ago.

"Mean look."

The arena darkens and hundreds of purple eyes appear. The garchomp regards them and turns back to the dusknoir. "I see," Tim says, in the aftermath of the attack. "A suicide attempt." Morty shrugs one shoulder. "We will see. Outrage!"

The garchomp dives at dusknoir, claws and teeth flashing. The dusknoir does not move as quickly as the gengar and the sableye, but it is sturdier. Through a mixture of dodging and shielding, it outlasts the garchomp, whose stamina gives out eventually. It sinks to its knees, panting.

Morty seizes this chance. "Curse!"

Mai feels a sense of foreboding for the poor dragon, especially when she hears the murmurs of excitement from the ghosts.

The garchomp cries in pain as dark energy sears through it. It tries to rise to its feet, but Dusknoir treats it with a shadow punch attack that sends it reeling.

Mai looks at her friends for explanation, but they all look transfixed. The sand storm almost makes it difficult to see exactly what is going on.

Tim snaps, "Garchomp, get out of the way. Go back into your sand veil and attack Dusknoir from there!"

The garchomp retreats back into the heart of the sandstorm. Dusknoir does not follow. The garchomp sends a few fire blast attacks at the dusknoir and the dusknoir returns with a few shadow balls, but those attacks either dissipate without reaching their targets, or cancel each other out. It appears to be a stalemate.

"Earthquake!" Tim shouts. "Try earthquake!"

The whole room begins to shake. The dusknoir falls to the ground, but does not faint. The earthquake attack subsides and there is a collective sigh of relief from the audience.

Then there is a thump and the referee is saying, sounding relieved, "Garchomp is unable to battle. The challenger has two pokémon left and the gym leader has one."

_What happened?_ Mai wonders wildly. _How did Garchomp faint just like that? Was it too tired?_

There is no time to ask the question. Tim recalls Garchomp and sends Tyranitar out again. The pokémon no longer seems confused and is rearing for revenge as much as his trainer is.

"Crunch, let's go!"

Tyranitar charges at Dusknoir, who does not dodge and whose trainer does not order any counterattack. The curse attack and the ensuing stalemate have evidently exhausted both trainer and pokémon.

Emboldened, Tim orders a stone edge and then a thunderbolt attack. The dusknoir gamely takes on those attacks without offering any resistance. Mai realizes that Dusknoir couldn't have done very much to Tyranitar, anyway, but this defeatist attitude is surprising. Even Whitney always fights her battles with spirit to the last second, even when she is outmatched by her opponent and openly crying.

The end comes mercifully soon. Morty recalls his pokémon. The referee gives a start.

"Dusknoir is unable to battle! The challenger wins the battle."

Light comes back on. Someone starts clapping and after a while everyone else has joined in. Tim is shaking Morty's hand and then presented with the Fog Badge, which he carelessly stick in his pocket. Clearly getting the Fog Badge is not his main objective.

Tamao and the Elder join the party on the arena to congratulate Tim. Morty says a few last words, nods when Tamao and the Elder say something in response, and then leaves the arena with the referee. His face is devoid of emotion, as is his face.

The first year girls prepare to leave. "What happened there, by the way?" Mai asks Keiko. "Why did Garchomp faint when the dusknoir didn't do anything to it?"

"It used curse," Hana says. "Garchomp's energy was sapped out slowly until it faints."

"What? Really?" Their class has never covered such an attack.

Keiko nods. "Yeah, first Dusknoir had to trap Garchomp, and then it uses curse," she says. "It gave up a lot of its own energy in order to make sure that Garchomp goes down first."

"Seemed like Morty knew he couldn't win anyway, and just wanted to take down one of Tim's pokémon," Hana agrees. "Notice how he just gave up after Garchomp was gone. Dumb strategy."

Keiko frowns. "Hana, Morty needed to take down at least one of Tim's pokémon," she says. "It will look very bad otherwise."

"Gym leaders lose all the time," Hana points out.

Keiko shakes her head, looking distracted. "Not the Ecruteak Gym Leader, not like this."

Discussing the battle, Keiko and Hana draw ahead.

"_Oh_."

Recognizing the voice, Mai jerks her head to see Naomi, who is standing near the door, her eyes fixed on the arena. However, Mai sees nothing is amiss. Tim is talking to Tamao while the Elder and his friends look on. Then Tooka lays a hand on Naomi's shoulder and the young woman nods. Mai looks away hurriedly before Naomi could notice her watching, and follow the crowd out of the gym and into the afternoon sun.


	6. Teatime

_So sorry for the delay..."update story" function had an issue that got resolved this weekend, yay._

* * *

**Six**

**Teatime**

Mai has a weird dream the Monday following the gym battle. Timothy Dragonweed is on stage with the Kimono Girls, vainly trying to keep up with them as they perform a complex dance. Their graceful movements only serve to underlie his remarkable lack of composure.

"No, no, no," an unseen Tamao keeps repeating. "That is no way to pass the second test! There is no soul in your dance!"

She wakes up feeling ridiculous. Evidently a dance-off is not part of the Rainbow Reckoning.

Monday proves to be the start of a busy week. An article is published in the _Ecruteak Digest_, briefly outlining the challenge and mentioning its outcome. On Tuesday, Teacher Sato passes back the essay tests due last Wednesday. As expected, only Keiko and Chiyo achieve decent grades, though Mai is relieved to have passed at all. She glances through the teacher's comments, stops at "tolerably researched but weakly presented," and stuffs it back in her bag with a shrug. So what if she got a few details wrong.

On Thursday, Tamao begins teaching them the choreography for the spring dance. As she had mentioned on the first day of school, there are four roles. For now, however, the first years will only be learning Ho-oh's solo dance, which Tamao will also use for the lead dancer audition in the winter. Mai is exhilarated. All the dance techniques that she had striven to perfect are coming together, and the experience of practicing on an actual dance stage leaves her awake at night with excitement.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, Keiko finds Mai with a letter in hand. Her grandmother has invited her to tea, she says, and would be happy to have Mai along as well.

Keiko's grandmother, Kyoko, lives a few streets away from Ecruteak City's western gates. Mai follows Keiko off the bus and looks around. This neighborhood is completely residential and all the houses are uniform. The ground is full of puddles from last night's rain. Mai and Keiko are careful not to get their wooden sandals wet as they make their way through the unpaved streets. Mai marvels at the change from downtown Ecruteak, where they had been just minutes earlier.

"Are the people here, um, different from the people downtown?" Mai asks. She doesn't want to say "poorer" and offend Keiko.

"Yeah, they are," Keiko replies, not sounding offended at all. "Some of Ecruteak's oldest, most prominent families live here. Downtown is too loud and noisy. Hello, Grandma."

Kyoko is already waiting outside. She is a petite woman with white hair and dark eyes. After greeting Mai briefly, she ushers them in. Her house is very small, full of things collected and kept over her many years, but it is very neatly kept. The girls sit in the cramped but neatly arranged kitchen, watching her make tea. Her movements are so elegant and assured that Mai wonders aloud whether she had been a Kimono Girl in the past, trained in the arts of the tea ceremony.

"Not at all," Kyoko replies, looking amused. "I was unfortunately too short and stout to be a Kimono dancer. No headmistress would have admitted me." She hands a teacup to each of the girls, and then produce a box of teacakes. "I have, however, seen many generations of Kimono Girls come and go."

She wraps her weathered hands around her teacup, her gaze suddenly far away. Then she gives her head a little shake and turns to Mai.

"How do you like Ecruteak City so far, Mai?" she asks. "Where are you from originally?"

"Goldenrod City," Mai says. "I like Ecruteak a lot though," she hastens to add. "I cannot imagine being a Kimono Girl anywhere else."

"Yes, there is something quite magical about Ecruteak, isn't there?" Kyoko says. "Traditional dance simply cannot feel the same anywhere else. You come to Ecruteak City and you can feel that this place, more than anywhere else, is a home for legends."

Mai nods, noting with some amusement that grandmother and granddaughter sound similarly proud when they speak of their hometown.

"I told Mai that you told me that people used to come here claiming they would find legendary pokémon here," Keiko says. "Isn't that right, Grandma?"

The old woman turns to her granddaughter with surprise. "Why, they still do," she says. "Have you not been aware that there is a Rainbow Reckoning in progress?"

Keiko and Mai exchange a smile. How can they not, when the entire Dance Theater is bursting with anticipation to see the test of the Kimono Girls!

"You must have seen the Rainbow Reckoning once or twice, then," Keiko asks, sipping her tea now that it is cool enough to drink.

Kyoko raises an eyebrow. "Once or twice? Far more than that! I would say the number is around twenty."

Keiko chokes. "Twenty?" she sputters. "But I thought it occurs only _once_ every twenty years."

Her grandmother rolls her eyes. "You have been talking to Unsho Sato, haven't you?" she says. "He dramatizes everything for his own ego. The Rainbow Reckoning originated two hundred years ago, and since then it has occurred quite a number of times. For a few decades, it occurred on an average of once every two years."

"Once every two years!"

"Yes, once every two years." Kyoko looks amused. "Ho-oh molts more than once every twenty years, child. In my day, many, _many_ trainers would come, claiming that they have found the Rainbow Wing, and hence the destined partner to Ho-oh. Of course, most of them were either frauds or extremely weak, so the Elder would weed them out right away. Those who are judged worthy of taking on the challenge would stay in Ecruteak City to train for the Rainbow Reckoning."

Mai tries to digest the information. Learning that the ancient ceremony is not so ancient and not so rare is off-putting. "Did any of them ever make it to Ho-oh?" she asks.

"No, as a matter of fact," Kyoko says. She smiles at the looks on the girls' faces. "You must remember that not everyone even passes all three tests. In fact, four out of ten challengers never go past the first test. Most of the trainers underestimate the Ecruteak City Gym Leader, not realizing that he is bound by honor to use his strongest team, and not pokémon reserved for gym challenges. And then, of the six who do pass the first test, perhaps two will pass the second test, if that."

"How do the Kimono Girls test the challenger?"

"Why, battle of course," replies Keiko's grandmother, looking surprised that it could be otherwise. "Do not be fooled by the Kimono Girls' beautiful and delicate appearance. They are trained to be capable pokémon trainers as well, perhaps equal to or even exceeding the gym leader in skill. Ceremonial battles, after all, are at the heart of the Kimono Girl culture." She eyes the girls. "If you stay at the Theater long enough, you, too, will start training pokémon quite as rigorously as anyone taking the League challenge."

Mai thinks of Naomi's Prince and feels a flicker of excitement. She would love to have an eevee.

"What happens at the third test, then?" Keiko asks. "Does the Elder also battle?"

"No," says Kyoko. "The three Sages battle in his stead, though this battle is usually not open to the public. Afterwards, the challenger gains entrance to the Bell Tower and it is a trial in itself to ascend to the top. The nine stories of the Bell Tower are said to be full of dead ends, traps, and wild pokémon eager for prey. It takes much determination and skill to climb to the top. In my time, two challengers were admitted to the Bell Tower but, to the best of my knowledge, neither of them made it to the top."

"That's disappointing," Keiko says. "You pass all the tests and never even see Ho-oh! What a waste of time."

"What happened to them?"

Kyoko shrugs. "Once they fail, their fates are of no consequence to us," she says. Mai shivers. "I suppose they leave the city and return to their own journeys."

The three sip their tea in companionable silence before Kyoko speaks again.

"I must say that every time a challenger fails, it causes much disappointment to the people of Ecruteak, because it means that we, along with Ho-oh, are waiting for the hero to bring him back. In fact, after the last Reckoning, the Elder and the Dance Theater headmistress decided to become even stricter in selecting candidates. That is why there hasn't been a Rainbow Reckoning until now, and that is mostly why the entire city is so excited. The young man this time is very talented, I hear." She turns questioningly to Mai and Keiko.

"He is," affirms Keiko. "He defeated Morty pretty easily and he has really strong pokémon. I think he has a really good chance of making it."

"Perhaps, but only time will tell," Kyoko says. She seems about to say more, before she chooses to contemplate her tea. "Well now, we have talked enough of the Rainbow Reckoning. I would like to hear more about your dance training. How are your classes coming along? Your parents tell me that you've been working quite hard, Keiko."

"Classes are pretty good, with a few exceptions," Keiko says, and Mai grins, knowing that she is referring to history. "We are learning the spring dance right now."

"How nice," Kyoko says. "I always look forward to that. It is one of my favorite pastimes to watch the new dancers and guess which ones will persevere to become full-fledged Kimono Girls."

"Weird thing though. Madame said that only four of us will be dancing though," Keiko says. "What happens to the fifth one?"

"Dance training is very rigorous," Kyoko says. "It is not unheard of for girls to leave midway through the year. In fact, that has been the norm since Tamao took over."

Mai blinks. "They just – leave?"

"They are under no contract to stay," says Kyoko. "None of the dancers are, unless they are Kimono Girls. In their cases, they _are_ obligated to stay until the headmistress grooms the next generation of Kimono Girls. It is a responsibility and an honor expected of the profession, and it is not an unreasonable request. The career of a Kimono Girl spans only three to five years and the experience sets up any dancer for life."

Mai remembers something. "I was looking at programs performed by past Kimono Girls," she says. "When we were at the library," she adds to Keiko, who looks momentarily confused. "In Tamao's generation, um, they seemed to have performed _Dance of the Camellias_ a lot?"

That isn't what she meant to say, but she finds the words hard to compose together.

Kyoko inclines her head. "A beautiful dance, perhaps the most famous dance from that era," she says. "Yes, I remember it well." She looks at Mai, knowing that is not the extent of her question.

"Well, I was looking at who the dancers were , in addition to Madame, and there was a girl named Sumomo." Mai falters. It may be her imagination, but Kyoko's lips seem to thin slightly. However, the old woman gestures for her to continue. "She was actually the lead dancer in all the earlier performances. But she is not in any of the later programs at all and there is only someone named Komomo." She meets Kyoko's eyes. "What happened to Sumomo?"

"She left," says Keiko's grandmother. "She did the very thing I told you a Kimono Girl cannot do – she broke her obligation as a Kimono dancer. We do not mention her in this city."

Mai and Keiko look at each other. "Why did she leave?"

Kyoko stands up. "Really, I do not know," she says in a tone that makes it clear that she is lying. "It is possibly better this way so we never know to what extent she has shamed our proud tradition." She fixes her eyes on Mai, even though Keiko had asked the last question. "Is there any particular reason for your interest in her?"

Mai meets her eyes squarely. "No," she says, matching Kyoko's careful tone. "No reason. I was just curious."

Her answer appeases the old woman, who refills her teacup and hands her another teacake.

* * *

Delayed notes on names:

Tamao, Sumomo, and Komomo are characters from the cartridge game (guess which ones), fleshed out in this story.

Extra credit to anyone who can spot the significance of the Sumomo/Komomo connection.

* * *

_Apologies for the delay and thank you, as always, for your loyal readership!_

_(Anyone playing Black and White?)_


	7. An Encounter by the Tower

_I apologize for the delay in the release of this chapter. This chapter, and the next, are transitional chapters so I played with the outline a few times. I eventually decided to stick with the original outline._

_And yes, Sumomo was renamed Komomo in the re-release of Gold and Silver...although that will be exploited for evil purposes in my story!_

* * *

**Seven**

**An Encounter by the Tower**

On their way back to the Kimono Dance Theater from her grandmother's house, Keiko suddenly grabs Mai's arm and bodily drags her to the other side of the street, narrowly missing two bicyclists whizzing by. "Don't look, and walk faster!" she commands, but of course, Mai turns her head before her friend can stop her.

Across the street, where they had been, is an elderly couple, who either missed what had happened or has chosen to ignore it. They seem like nice, respectable people, no different from the other elderly couples walking around the quaint neighborhood. Nevertheless, Mai notices both a mother pushing a stroller and a young boy walking his growlithe veer out of the way as they come closer. Surely that is no coincidence.

The old woman turns, her green eyes stark against a pale, wrinkled face. Keiko grabs Mai's arm again and they resume walking.

"Keiko, what was that all about?" Mai cannot help asking.

She could see that Keiko is choosing her words carefully. "They are disgraced, even worse than outsiders," Keiko says. "They are not welcome in the city."

Remembering the look of resignation on the old woman's face, Mai feels sorry for them. How horrible it is to be ostracized in their own hometown.

"Why are they disgraced?" she asks. "What did they do?"

"They just _are_," Keiko says. "You will learn who they are soon enough and learn to avoid them too."

"O-okay," Mai says. She isn't sure if that is a good thing.

* * *

Autumn has now chased away summer completely and the weather becomes chilly. Mai feels restless often, despite being kept quite busy by school. There is always a stack of homework to be done every night, and then there is dance. The choreography for the spring dance is difficult and Tamao is exacting in her quest for perfection. Practices are often so grueling that Mai would wake up with sore muscles in the morning.

Nonetheless, Mai makes the most of her few hours of free time by going into Ecruteak City on weekends, sometimes with Keiko or the other girls, and sometimes by herself. She visits the Bell Tower for the first time that autumn and it immediately becomes her favorite landmark in the city. The antithesis of the Burned Tower, it is well-preserved, as breathtaking in the present as it had been in the past. Mai, who is allowed on the Bellchime Trail due to being a Kimono Girl trainee, loves looking at the Tower up close. It is so tall that it seems to touch the sky from where she stands, its silver roof tiles barely discernible.

Sometimes, a gust of wind would blow colored leaves across her path and there is the sound of distant wind chimes. At those times, Mai would always have a sense of déjà vu, though she could not explain why.

One day, Mai is seized by a determination to see the Burned Tower, which she has not visited since that first time with Keiko. It is unchanged, though its silhouette looks darker and more imposing under the backdrop of dusk. There are only two others in the tower, most likely tourists as they are snapping pictures of each other and gushing over the "intricate details" on the blackened pillars. Mai throws them a glance as she passes, heading to the staircase leading to the cellar and kneels down. The sun is beginning to set. The ghosts should be roaming soon.

Keiko's brother's supposed claim has been in the back of her mind, as is the strange conversation at the Daimonji that she still cannot decipher.

Mai takes a deep breath and descends the stairs. The cellar is quiet save the occasional sound of the wooden ceiling creaking under the tourists' feet.

"Haunter?" she calls, feeling foolish. There is no answer. She spins around, heart pounding, when she hears something move, but it is only a koffing, hurrying out of the way.

She stands still for a moment and then walks toward the crater in the center of the room. It is empty, of course, and she feels somewhat disappointed. Maybe it is all the talk of legendaries in Ecruteak City. She almost expects to see one of the three legendary beasts there.

The room grows progressively darker as the afternoon gives way to evening. Eventually, her courage fails her. She does not even know what she is expecting to see. Mai climbs the stairs and heads outside.

Jackie is standing there. Mai does not recognize her at first, because she is wearing sunshades. As soon as she removes them, however, her pale eyes give her identity away.

She does not notice Mai at first, but she turns to her slowly, tearing her eyes away from the Burned Tower. She starts to frown and then her eyes crinkle. "Oh, hello," she says, wearing the beginnings of a smile. "I remember _you_."

"Hello," Mai says.

Jackie comes closer. "Yes, I _do_ remember you," she says, looking satisfied. "We asked you and your friend for directions that other day, didn't we? Here at the Burned Tower, what a coincidence." She holds out her hand. "We've never properly met. What is your name?"

"I am Mai."

"Pretty name, _very_ quaint!" Jackie says. "I'm Jackie. You probably remember my friends Simon and Tim."

"Yeah..." It would be hard for anyone in Ecruteak City _not_ to remember Tim.

"So what were you up to just now? Are you catching pokémon in the Burned Tower?" asks Jackie. "You look about the right age to be a pokémon trainer."

"I'm not, actually," Mai says. "I train at the Dance Theater."

Jackie's smile suddenly fades. "The Kimono Dance Theater?" When Mai nods, she presses on. "You are not one of the Kimono Girls, are you?"

"No…not yet," Mai says, just a bit defensively. "I'm a trainee."

"I see," Jackie says, biting her bottom lip. Mai could see from her expression that she is waging an internal debate when the older girl comes to an impromptu conclusion. "Say, Mai, do you want to maybe come and grab coffee with me?"

Mai stares at the older girl. "Excuse me?"

"It's my treat."

Mai is shaking her head even before she says, "I'm sorry, I can't get back to the Theater too late. I still have dance practice tonight."

"It won't take long," Jackie says pleadingly. "We can go somewhere close by the Theater. I have some questions that need answers."

"I don't think I have the answers," Mai says, quite honestly.

"But perhaps you share some of my questions," says Jackie, "and you can help me."

Just the words to pique a ten-year-old girl's interest. Alarm bells are sounding in Mai's head, but she cannot help saying, "Help you…how?"

"I would rather not talk about it here," Jackie says. "I know a small café not too far away from the Kimono Theater. I promise, I just want to talk and it won't take too long."

"The Kimono _Dance_ Theater," corrects Mai. She studies Jackie, who seems sincere and not - at least, not outwardly – dangerous. "All right."

* * *

Jackie's café belongs to a chain that originated in Sinnoh. As such, its décor is decidedly modern, a stark contrast with the small wooden buildings that line the rest of the street. Jackie makes a face as they approach the door, for through the floor-length windows, they could see that the café is rather crowded.

"If there are no seats, we can go somewhere else," she says, opening the door and waving over a waitress. "Hi there. A table for two, please."

"We don't –" the waitress begins, and then her eyes fall on Mai and the insignia on her school uniform. "Please follow me."

Jackie does not detect the subtle change in the waitress's demeanor, but Mai notices. When they sit down at a leather booth in the back of the room, the older girl remarks, "Pretty good luck, huh? There are tons more people waiting who got there before us. Maybe they are part of a larger group."

Mai shrugs by way of response and opens up the menu. The items look similar to a typical café in Goldenrod City. She orders a hot chocolate and, at Jackie's request, a salad. She reasons that the cafeteria is likely to be closed by the time she gets back and, really, who turns down free food?

After Jackie has put their orders to the waitress, she turns to Mai. "Thanks for coming," she says. "I know I was extremely vague back at the Burned Tower and you had no cause to trust me."

_I still don't._ "What did you want to talk about?"

Jackie looks down at the checkered tablecloth. "I am worried about Tim."

"Why?"

"I don't like the Rainbow Reckoning business." Jackie glances up at the waitress arrives with their orders. She pushes across a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a bowl of salad, before reaching for her own coffee and sandwich. "I don't like the Rainbow Reckoning business," she repeats, as if Mai had not heard the first time.

"Why?" Mai says again. "Tim did very well against Morty."

"That's kind of the problem, though," Jackie says. "It sets up an expectation. For him, I mean. He's pretty arrogant and he's already talking about capturing Ho-oh."

Mai still does not see what is wrong so she picks out a marshmallow from her hot chocolate and chews it.

"I mean, Ho-oh is a legendary. Capturing it? Having a complete ritual built around capturing it? That's completely _nuts_."

Mai considers. No, it's not that crazy of an idea, at least not in Ecruteak City. "I think Tim will be fine," she says, but Jackie is not listening.

"You know, when we came to Johto, we didn't expect this to happen. We already came to Johto once, a couple of years ago, and got most of the badges. So we figured, let's get the rest of the badges and try out our luck in the Johto League or something. And then the Kimono Girls start appearing _everywhere_."

"Well, they are pretty popular in Johto," Mai says. "They do a lot of high-profile shows in most big cities."

"I don't mean appearing like _that_," says Jackie. "I mean appearing like…they are almost stalking us. Or Tim, rather. I can't even figure out when it started. But then every once in a while, in the oddest places, we would run into a Kimono Girl, who would say really mysterious things to Tim and ask him to do them a favor. Like, oh, my flower fell in the river, please retrieve it. Or, I lost my wallet in the Underground. Could you find it? And I was always like, that's what Office Jenny is for!"

Mai blinks at Jackie, bemused by the venom in her tone. She still does not quite see the connection between the Kimono Girls and Tim's arrival in Ecruteak. Nor does she see how she can be of any help.

"How did you get the Rainbow Wing?" she asks, when Jackie stops talking to grab a few bites of her sandwich.

"One of the Kimono Girls – I think the one who's always in purple? – she gave it to him, apparently," Jackie says, her mouth full of salami. She rolls her eyes.

"That's when you came here?"

"Yup," says Jackie, swallowing. "Tim got way too excited so he insisted that Simon and I come with him to Ecruteak. Then the boys sucked at directions and we ended up at the Burned Tower, where we saw you, and after we got directions they dragged me to the Bell Tower. The rest, well, you know the story."

Mai frowns into her salad. But you had been excited, she thinks, remembering that afternoon outside the Burned Tower. Jackie's male companions had been impatient to go to the Bell Tower, to be sure, but she had been equally eager. Hadn't Jackie been the one to ask directions in the first place? Why the sudden change in attitude?

Jackie is watching her carefully. "You didn't know any of this, did you?"

Mai shakes her head. "The Kimono Girls don't share their business with the rest of us."

"How do you like the headmistress?" Jackie says, changing tack.

"I like her."

"And nothing…you've never seen anything weird going on at the Theater?"

Mai remembers the overheard conversation between Naomi and Tooka, which Jackie is shedding some light upon. She remembers the programs where Sumomo's name is replaced.

"No," she says. "Nothing weird."

"Oh." Jackie looks disappointed.

"I'm sorry," Mai says, after a pause. "I don't think I really helped you. I'm just a first year at the Theater."

"That's all right," the older girl says, with a sigh. "It's actually a relief to just talk about it with someone, you know? This city gives me the creeps. Sometimes I'd be sitting in the pokémon center and get so worried, like something doesn't feel right." She looks at Mai in the eye. "Could I make a request of you? It's nothing major and you don't have to do it, but I would greatly appreciate it."

"What is it?"

"If…if anything happens, will you let me know?"

Mai shivers. The older girl's anxiety is rubbing off on her. "What kind of things?"

"I can't really explain. Just…whatever is out of the ordinary. Please."

"Okay," Mai says, still not understanding. She senses that the other girl doesn't actually expect her to keep the promise, and indeed she does not plan to.

Jackie gives her a small smile. "Thanks," she says. "You can always find me at the pokémon center. I mean, if you ever need anything, drop me a line or something."

"Yeah, sure."

Jackie asks for the check, pays, and stands up. Mai does too. "Thank you for dinner," she says.

"No, thank _you_," Jackie says. "I wish I could explain but…with the second test coming up…I just have a bad feeling." She turns away.

_That makes two of you._


	8. The Test of Soul

**Eight**

**The Test of Soul**

The autumn leaves crunch under her sandals when she arrives at the designated meeting spot. With every step, a _crack_ of fallen leaves shatters the silence of the Kimono Dance Theater.

From behind the tree, he steps out.

"You came," says Naomi.

"Prince delivered the message to my gengar this morning." The gym leader exhales. "Should we go somewhere more private? I do not wish to be overheard."

She laughs, a bitter laugh. "The Theater is full of her eyes and ears," she says. "Our whereabouts hardly matter. Besides, I don't have much to say except that I'm sorry."

There is a pause.

"Rather belated, I know," she adds. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," says Morty. "I tried my best, but it is to be expected."

"Now I am afraid. Tomorrow…"

"You are not thinking of backing out." His voice is sharp.

"You didn't tell me how hard it would be!" she retorts. "But no, it is much too late to back out. You did, after all, warn me."

"Then you understand what you must do."

She sighs. "Yes, I must be strong," she says, and in a quieter tone, "I cannot give up."

"Be strong and don't lose heart, yes," Morty says. "I must go now." His voice is slightly gentler. "Get some rest, tomorrow will be a long day."

The leaves crunch again, and soon she is gone as well.

Mai steps out of the dance studio, heart pounding. She came back to the Theater late due to her meeting with Jackie and spent the past four hours in the studio, making up for the lost time and the gained calories. She did not expect to run into Naomi on her way home, nor did she expect to overhear the conversation between her and Morty.

Back in her bed, she tries to put the puzzle pieces together. First there are the people. Tim. Jackie. Simon. Naomi. Morty. Sumomo. Tamao. The Elder. Then there are the traditions. The Rainbow Reckoning. The invisible class division. In some strange way they are all connected, except no matter what she does, the pieces do not fit.

Sleep does not come easily.

* * *

The sky is overcast on the day of the second test. There is not as much fanfare, as it is held on Kimono Dance Theater grounds and Tamao refuses to allow the general public to disturb the tranquility of her school. Instead, only the Elder, the three Sages, and a select number of respected townspeople will be watching the battle, along with the students at the Dance Theater and a small television crew, who will broadcast the battle afterwards.

A large makeshift battle arena is set up outdoors, surrounded by wooden benches, on a large field that the Dance Theater students often pass on their way to the academic quadrangle. All throughout breakfast, the cafeteria is abuzz with excited chatter over what is sure to be an exciting match. If some of the girls had been cynical about Tim's abilities prior to the first test, few have the same qualms after his handy defeat of Morty. On the other hand, some of the senior girls are quick to point out that the Kimono Girls are no pushover either.

Mai, remembering Kyoko's words, believes them.

There is a light drizzle as everyone gathers around the arena. When everyone is more or less comfortable on the benches, Tamao steps in front of everyone.

"Welcome to the Kimono Dance Theater, and to the second test of the Rainbow Reckoning," she says. Her voice is quiet, amplified only by the microphone she is holding. "I will explain the format of the match, because it will be different from the format of the gym battle. The challenger must defeat six Kimono Girls in a six-on-six double battle. If he runs out of pokémon at any point in the battle, his Reckoning ends here."

She stops as an excited murmur passes through the crowd. A six-on-six double battle sounds way more exciting than a three-on-three single battle.

"Since, as you know, we have seven Kimono Girls," Tamao continues, "the challenger must, prior to the start of the match, select one of them to _not_ participate in the Reckoning. He must then challenge the remaining Kimono Girls in ascending order of their seniority. Now, let us welcome the challenger, Timothy Dragonweed of Eterna City!"

The crowd claps politely as Tim steps up beside Tamao. Mai takes a quick look around and sees that Jackie and Simon are not granted special permission to watch him battle. She then turns to the Kimono Girls, who are waiting demurely by the sidelines for Tamao's instructions.

"And now, will the Kimono Girls step up." The crowd cheers again as the seven Kimono Girls step forward. Each releases her pokémon and there is a sigh of appreciation as the seven eevee evolutions materialize.

Then everyone turns expectantly to Tim, wondering which of them will sit out the match. Tim regards them for a few minutes, seems to waver between three, and then walks toward Tamao, conveying his decision more privately. Tamao nods.

"Nanami," she says, addressing the girl in a dark blue kimono, "you may join your friends on the bench."

Nanami bows to Tamao and then gracefully makes her way to the bench where all the senior girls are sitting. Her vaporeon jumps onto her lap. Neither trainer nor pokémon seems disappointed.

The rest of the Kimono Girls, aside from the two who are about to battle, step off the arena and sit down. Mayu and Aya remain, taking position at one end of the arena while Tim walks over to the other side. His swagger exudes confidence, perhaps the effect of being in the presence of so many girls.

"Let the battle begin," Tamao announces, before joining the Elder and the Sages.

Aya's flareon and Mayu's umbreon step up in front of their trainers. Tim regards them thoughtfully before he selects two pokéballs from his belt. There are two bursts of red light. Mai sits up and sees Tim has selected his tyranitar and a multi-armed humanoid pokémon. Mai recognizes it from her pokémon dictionary as a machamp, a fighting type.

A controlled sandstorm starts brewing, as the tyranitar's characteristic activates. It becomes a little difficult to see the other side of the arena clearly. The flareon and the umbreon step back, careful not to get buffeted by the sand. Their trainers look at each other and nod, agreeing on a strategy.. It is clear that they have been trained in such battle formats before.

"Flareon, use sunny day!"

"Umbreon, use confuse ray on Tyranitar!"

The flareon's dark eyes glow. To Mai's surprise, the sandstorm begins to dissipate, until the field is clear once more. Up above, the slight drizzle that has plagued most of the morning disappears as well, replaced by a clear blue sky.

Tim crosses his arms. "Okay. Tyranitar, use earthquake. Machamp, use cross chop, let's go!"

The ground is trembling under the force of Tyranitar's earthquake. Flareon flattens its body against the grass and Machamp also lowers its body to keep balance. Umbreon's eyes glow and send the same beam of light as Morty's sableye had during the gym battle. Tyranitar pauses its attack and looks around in confusion. Machamp takes advantage of Umbreon's concentration and delivers a powerful cross chop attack, sending Umbreon flying backwards.

Mayu bends down, looking worried, as her umbreon lies in a heap, but the pokémon struggles to its feet. "Good work," she says. She exchanges a glance with Aya. "Use protect."

"Use toxic on Machamp," Aya says.

Tim hesitates, finding his opponents' strategies unfamiliar. "In that case, snap yourself out of it and earthquake again, Tyranitar, and Machamp, try to get a cross chop in before Flareon uses toxic!"

The tyranitar, still looking puzzled, stomps the ground, sending a tremor through the field. Flareon falls to its feet, though not before sending a spray of purple liquid at Machamp, who had been rushing toward the fire pokémon with its arms raised for a cross chop attack. Machamp falters momentarily, giving Aya the opportunity to yell, "Quick attack!"

Flareon and Machamp collide. The machamp loses its footing but manages to land a direct attack. The fire type crumples to the ground and does not move.

Without another word, Aya recalls her pokémon and steps off. Yukiko takes her place, her glaceon taking the place of the fallen flareon. The transition is brief and almost seamless. Yukiko orders an attack right away.

"Water pulse!"

Tim immediately shouts for Tyranitar to get out of the way, but to his surprise, the water pulse attack is aimed at Machamp. The fighting type shakes its head to get rid of the water, eyes looking unfocused, as if it is confused. Umbreon follows up Glaceon's attack with an iron tail to the machamp's head, who roars from the physical pain and the poison slowly sapping his strength.

Looking conflicted, Tim makes a decision. "All right, return," he says, recalling Machamp. Yukiko and Mayu exchange a smile.

"Smart strategy," comments Keiko.

"Yeah," Hana agrees. "Both Glaceon and Umbreon are weak to fighting moves."

Stony-faced, Tim selects another pokémon. "Go, Arcanine!"

The large wolf-like pokémon appears, which makes the two eevee evolutions look small and delicate in comparison. At its trainer's order, it unleashes a powerful flamethrower attack. Umbreon jumps to get the full brunt of the attack, while Glaceon barely manages to get out of the way.

"Use stone edge!" says Tim. "Arcanine, use flamethrower again."

"Ice beam," says Yukiko, looking unruffled, while Mayu says, "Dark pulse!"

The eevee evolutions' attacks crisscross in midair, the glaceon's attack heading for Tyranitar while the umbreon's attack aims for Arcanine. Half of Tyranitar's side crusts over with ice, forcing it to launch its stone edge attack before it has fully charged. Arcanine's flamethrower quickly joins in. Once more, Umbreon jumps in front to take the full brunt of the attack. When the smoke clears, it is obvious that Mayu's umbreon is very worn out.

"Wish," says Mayu, after a pause.

"Finish off the tyranitar with another ice beam," says Yukiko.

"Close combat that umbreon," Tim says, "and Tyranitar, let's try stone edge again."

With a mighty swipe of its paw, the arcanine sends umbreon flying into the air before it could gather enough energy for a wish attack. It lays in the grass, unmoving and soon recalled. Meanwhile, the glaceon sends another powerful beam of ice at the tyranitar, enough to send it stumbling backwards without launching another stone edge. When Tyranitar tries to get back up, it is met in the face with a water pulse attack.

Tyranitar falls back down, immobile this time. Tim recalls it, looking annoyed. Sitting among the spectators, Mai is impressed. The Kimono Girls have managed to take down a pokémon that Morty had not been able to take down with his powerful ghosts. She glances up at the sky. The sun summoned by Flareon has faded.

Yukiko squeezes Mayu's shoulder as she steps off the arena, replaced by Kamiko and her leafeon.

"Rotten luck that the Kimono Girls have to battle in order," comments Chiyo. "That's the second time a Kimono Girl walks right into a type disadvantage."

"That's true," Mai says, thinking of Yukiko facing a tyranitar and a machamp with an ice type, and now Kamiko facing an arcanine with her grass type.

Taking advantage of the type mismatch, Tim sends out a lucario, yet another fighting type, but with a steel subtype to take advantage of its resistance to Leafeon's attacks. "All right Lucario, use aura sphere Glaceon, and Arcanine, fire blast that leafeon!"

Like her fellow dancers, Kamiko looks unconcerned. "Swords dance," she orders Leafeon. "Stay out of the way for now.

"Block Arcanine's attack for Leafeon," Yukiko says, "and use mirror coat!"

Shock registers on Tim's face as the glaceon leaps in front of the leafeon, shielding it from the incoming attacks as the fallen umbreon had similarly shielded it. Its body glowing, the ice pokémon lets out a yell as the attacks land. Mai smells scorching flesh and shudders. And then, with another yell of effort, the glaceon sends the attacks rebounding toward their originators. Lucario steps out of the way in time, while Arcanine is slower, and sinks to its knees.

Meanwhile, Leafeon has been charging its body up, and now the leaf on top of its head glows and lengthens. It launches a powerful leaf blade attack right on Arcanine's head. The fire pokémon roars in pain and crumples to the grass. Almost before it has fallen limp, Tim is recalling it and tossing out another pokéball. Mai recognizes the aggressive eyes and the snakelike body; it is a gyarados.

"Aqua tail that glaceon!" Tim almost snaps. "And Lucario, close combat."

The gyarados lashes the glaceon with its tail. There is little struggle from the ice pokémon, who looks exhausted from the earlier mirror coat. It is recalled while Lucario and Leafeon clash in the air, the leafeon using another leaf blade attack and the lucario landing multiple punches on the smaller pokémon. Panting, both pokémon recover after falling into the grass, the leafeon pawing the ground while the lucario gives a cry.

Yukiko leaves. Tooka, smiling, steps onto the arena with her jolteon. Finally, Mai thinks, luck has turned somewhat their way. There is no way a gyarados can stand up to an electric attack from a jolteon.

Indeed, it does not. Although Tim tries to order an earthquake attack, Tooka's jolteon is too quick. It hops into the air and lands on the gyarados' back, proceeding to use such a powerful thunderbolt attack that many in the audience cover their eyes. Once more there is the smell of scorched flesh. When the smoke clears, Tim is recalling his gyarados. He is biting his lip and his countenance has none of the cockiness that he displayed at the gym battle.

He sends out his garchomp. "Earthquake, Garchomp, and Lucario, use close combat again!"

To Mai's surprise, Tooka does not bother ordering her jolteon to dodge the earthquake. Instead, she nods at Kamiko before saying, "Thunder wave Lucario."

"And Leafeon, finish off Lucario with another leaf blade."

It almost feels like a routine now. Jolteon sends a shock of paralyzing electricity at Lucario just as the ground shakes. Both Lucario and Jolteon reel from the force of the attack. Both Garchomp and Leafeon take advantage of the distraction. Garchomp finishes off Jolteon with a dragon claw, while Leafeon defeats Lucario with a final leaf blade in the pokémon's face.

There is palpable tension in the air. Tooka recalls her jolteon and leaves. Tim sends out his other remaining pokémon, the poisoned machamp. Meanwhile, Mai and her friends turn to look at Naomi, who stands up very slowly. Again, Mai cannot help remarking on the unnatural pallor of the young woman. She thinks back to overheard conversation and feels a wave of apprehension on her behalf.

On the other hand, Naomi looks very determined. Prince leaps off the bench as well and join her on the grass, facing Tim alongside Kamiko.

"Leaf blade," says Kamiko. Her leafeon makes up for its lack of attack variety in its mastery of the leaf blade attack, which seems to land critical hits rather frequently.

"Reflect," says Naomi.

Tim snorts. "Brick break, Machamp, and Garchomp, use outrage!"

The espeon concocts a wall of light, but the machamp shatters it with a well-aimed punch. Fortunately, Prince gets out of the way before receiving too much damage. Mai sees Naomi's hand clench and unclench, the only sign of unease that any of the Kimono Girls has shown so far.

"Psychic!" she says, and the machamp yells in agony as its body is twisted by purple energy emanating from espeon. It falls, trembling. Its body looks very sweaty and has an unhealthy hue. Evidently its rest in the pokéball has not cured him of the poison left by Flareon's toxic.

Meanwhile, the garchomp seems to have gone completely nuts. It charges at Leafeon as if it wants to tear the poor grass pokémon apart. The leafeon is agile and manages to hold off the garchomp for a while, landing a few well-placed leaf blades in the meantime. However, being tired, its attention falters. With a cry of triumph, the garchomp sends it flying with a last swipe of its claws and aims a fire blast attack in the air.

Leafeon hits the ground hard. Kamiko recalls her pokémon and joins the other Kimono Girls on the bench.

It is shaping up to be a close match. Tim has two pokémon left, but one is severely weakened, the other exhausted from an outrage attack, while Naomi's Prince is relatively fresh. Mai holds her breath as Naomi considers her next move. There is a good chance that the Kimono Girls will win. Surely finishing off Machamp, possibly with another psychic attack, will be quite easy, not to mention Garchomp is not resistant to the espeon's attacks. She watches Naomi's face as her eyes light up.

"Prince –" she begins triumphantly.

All eyes turn to her when she suddenly stops. Then there is a collective gasp.

Naomi has fainted.


	9. Return to Goldenrod

_All right, this is the last chapter that involves more setup than answers. Starting with chapter 10 it's a crazy ride to the end._

_Thank you for those of you who stuck with the story, despite the year-long hiatus. I should be back on a regular posting schedule._

_Here are a few things to think about as we unravel the weirdness:_

_What were Naomi and Morty up to?_

_Is there any significance to the Ecruteak class structure?_

_How do Tim (and his friends), Sumomo, and the Kimono Girls fit into the grand scheme of the Rainbow Reckoning?_

* * *

**Nine**

**Return to Goldenrod**

There is a shocked silence as everyone surveys the fallen body of Naomi. She lies in a crumpled heap, with no trace of the elegance that typically characterizes her. The scene is almost surreal, as if it is a rehearsed moment from a dance. Then Mai hears the murmurs, voicing her own questions. _What happened? Is she okay? Is she dead? Did the pokémon attack her too?_

Tim, his mouth slightly open, looks torn between helping his opponent and disrupting what had been a pokémon battle. He takes a tentative step toward Naomi, but stumbles back in shock. A pokémon has materialized in front of him, hissing menacingly. Then it disappears, reappearing in front of Naomi to sniff her face. The gesture is more out of curiosity than kindness.

"Thank you very much, Kaguya," says Tamao in her cold, clear voice. She has stood up from where she was sitting. "That will be enough."

Her umbreon glances up and meets her trainer's eyes, as if considering her command, before stepping away from the fallen Kimono Girl with calculated grace.

Tamao turns. "Nanami. Tooka."

The two girls immediately rush forward to kneel by Naomi's side. Nanami cradles her head on her lap while Tooka feels her forehead. They both look concerned, except it occurs to Mai that neither bothered to move until Tamao has spoken. Even Prince remained still until then, though now he has joined his mistress's side and started licking her face.

Naomi stirs and opens her eyes. "What happened?" she asks, struggling to sit up.

"Careful," Tooka says, supporting her with her arm. "Are you feeling okay?"

Naomi touches her hand to her head and nods. Then her eyes widen and she seeks out Tamao, who is still standing and watching the scene silently.

"Madame!" she calls, a hint of desperation in her voice. "The battle – did I –"

Tamao smiles, though her eyes are cold and dark. "You forfeited the battle by fainting, so Timothy Dragonweed is the winner. Congratulations."

She had spoken loudly enough for benefit of the television camera, which is still rolling.

Her words take a moment to register with Tim, who nods slowly. He recalls his pokémon silently, displaying no triumph or excitement, and looks at the audience. There is a weak wave of applause. Meanwhile, upon hearing the announcement that Tim had won, Naomi's face crumples, as if she would cry. Mai stares at her hands, feeling uncomfortable.

"Momoko, if you please," Tamao says.

Her secretary jumps to her feet. "The second test has concluded," she says, eyeing the television crew pointedly. "Please allow me to show you the way out."

Everyone knows that this is the cue to leave. The Elder and the three Sages leave first, after shaking Tim's hand. The townspeople and the television crew follow. Then the girls of the Kimono Dance Theater get up, though they move slowly, throwing looks of curiosity at the arena every now and then.

Mai, who is careful to lag behind, turns back for a last look just before she passes out of earshot. Naomi is looking imploringly at Tamao. "Madame, please, I –"

"Not here," Tamao says.

As Naomi falls silent, Mai breaks into a run to catch her friends.

* * *

On Monday, the first year girls arrive at dance class to find Momoko waiting on the practice stage instead of Tamao. "I am sorry," she says, before any of them could ask. "Madame has some business to take care of and therefore cannot come to class. She asks me to tell you to keep practicing your choreography, as she will be back on Tuesday to check your progress. Please return to your dormitory."

Behind her, in the shadowed backdrop of the stage, Kaguya is pacing, her blue rings glowing. When she notices the students watching, she narrows her glowing red eyes and flashes her teeth. The girls need no further convincing.

"What do you think _that_ was about?" Chiyo asks, once they are back in their dormitory. She flops onto her bed on her stomach and rests her chin on her hands.

"I'm sure it has something to do with what happened yesterday," Keiko says. "Otherwise it's too much of a coincidence."

Mai reaches for her pillow. "You mean that Naomi fainted? Or that Tim won?"

She receives a shrug in response.

"Either, both, I don't know."

"Do you think Naomi is in trouble?" Hana says. "Madame looked really mad at her yesterday."

"Yeah, she did," Chiyo says. "Then again, can you blame her? You know what I heard?" The other girls lean closer. "I heard rumors that Madame was going to fire her!"

"No way, _Naomi_ getting fired?" Akina's eyes are round. "She's the lead dancer!"

"Well, what she did yesterday was pretty embarrassing! What a dumb way to lose a battle she totally could've won."

"By fainting, right? Yeah, what _was_ that about?"

"Who knows, but it's been broadcast all over Ecruteak. It's really bad publicity for our Theater!"

Mai hugs her pillow close. The battle yesterday feels almost like a dream and she had not been sure that it had truly happened until she saw it mentioned in the _Ecruteak Daily Digest._ Like all the other articles, it was short. _The second test of the Rainbow Reckoning was administered yesterday. Timothy Dragonweed won the six-on-six double battle, after the final battler took ill on the battlefield. According to a statement released by the Kimono Dance Theater, the dancer is recovering well. Mr. Dragonweed will take the third test this coming spring._

She turns her attention back to the other girls, who are now speculating who among the current alternates might become Naomi's replacement. The idea is chilling. How the mighty has fallen. She remembers Naomi of old, who danced so beautifully at the Obon Festival, who greeted them so arrogantly on the first day of class. Then she remembers the pale Naomi she had seen at the Ecruteak Gym, whose conversation she had overheard in the library, the frightened yet determined Naomi who spoke with Morty the night before the second test.

One thing is for sure: Naomi did not intend to lose the battle. So why did she faint at precisely the right moment?

Mai taps her cheek thoughtful and lets out a quiet sigh. She wishes she could talk to the other girls about her own theories, but she is not quite ready to share her ideas just yet.

* * *

To the disappointment of the Kimono dancer alternates, rumors remain rumors. Tamao makes no move to replace Naomi. A week after the second test, Naomi and the other Kimono Girls depart for a dance festival in Hoenn. Classes go on as usual. Things, to all appearances, return to normal in the Kimono Dance Theater.

It is the middle of December. The first snowfall of the season comes and takes the city by surprise with its bitterness. Mai falls asleep listening to the shrieks of the wind and wakes up to find the Dance Theater submerged under almost two feet of snow. Everything is so white that the sun is almost blinding.

By custom, the Kimono Dance Theater closes for two weeks to observe the winter holidays. Keiko invites Mai to stay over at her house, but Mai declines. While she enjoys Keiko's company and is not particularly homesick, she feels almost desperate to get back to the normalcy of Goldenrod City.

Therefore, on the afternoon before school closes for the year, Mai is on the express train that runs between Ecruteak and Goldenrod. She watches the landscape of Ecruteak recede. The entire city looks like a postcard, a mixture of white from the recent snow, and red and green from the holiday decorations. Then the train leaves the city completely and there are only trees and mountains to be seen.

Mai sleeps for most of the uneventful ride, waking up hours later when the train pulls up in front of the Goldenrod Terminal Station, and an electronic voice announces over the loudspeaker, "Final stop, Goldenrod City."

She grabs her bag and takes the escalator to the lobby. Though there are many people waiting, she picks out her mom immediately because of her height.

"Mom!"

"Hey sweetie, welcome back!" Mom says, giving Mai a hug. Mai hugs her back eagerly, breathing in the familiar scent of her mother's cologne. "How has everything been?"

"I missed you," says Mai, finding that to be very true. She has to remind herself that she is a big girl to stop herself from bursting into happy tears.

"We missed you too! You don't write Daddy and me nearly often enough, we can't wait to hear everything."

Mai follows Mom out of the lobby and into the garage, where her car is parked. She looks around as if she were a tourist, drinking in the sight of the skyscrapers and traffic lights and neon signs. Nobody is walking around in a kimono and all of the trees are bare, as they should be in the winter.

She looks at Mom as the car turns onto the highway. Kate Greenmount, née Poplar, looks the same as always, with her lopsided dimples, tall nose, and pale blue eyes, the only part of her that gives away her blood relation to Mai's biological father. The girl turns on the radio to the news station, thinks better of it, and changes to her favorite music station.

She turns back to the road as she answers Mom's questions about school. Classes are great, with the possible exception of history. Dance is amazing and they are training for the spring dance. The girls are very friendly and she is especially good friends with Keiko, who is from Ecruteak City. Mom does not mention the Rainbow Reckoning, at least not yet, and Mai is relieved. She does not quite know what to say on the topic.

"How have you been?" she asks now. "How are you and Daddy doing?"

"Pretty much the same as usual, on my end," Mom says. She works in the Daycare Center just a few miles south of the city. "There are a few expecting female pokémon, so we have been monitoring them to make sure that the eggs won't run into any issue. As for Daddy, he could give you the whole spiel himself when he gets back." Mom grins. "They are doing something pretty top secret in Devon, that's all I could divine. He's been staying late at work with all the other research professors. I'm going to go on a limb and say they are trying to capture some of the pokégears' market share."

Mai laughs. That has been a running joke in the family for ages.

"By the way, Jake left you a message," Mom says. "Apparently he's back in Goldenrod City. Maybe challenging Whitney for his next badge?"

"That's great, I can't wait to catch up with him."

Mai couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the ride. It is so good to be home.

Dinner is a festive affair. Her parents prepare her favorite food, gloriously and shamelessly rich in sugar and fat and calories. Madame Tamao would probably have a fit if she knows how her student is eating during the holidays, though Mai pushes her guilt to the back of her mind as she merrily digs into the food with her fork and knife.

Dad brings up the Rainbow Reckoning over dessert. "You wrote about a young man who wants to capture Ho-oh," he says, exchanging a grin with Mom that clearly indicates his opinion on the matter. "How's that going?"

Mai grins herself. In the brightly lit kitchen, the very idea of the Rainbow Reckoning seems a bit preposterous. "Well, there are three tests," she says. "Tim – that's the challenger – already passed two."

"Impressive," Mom says. "So when's the final test?"

"In the spring, I think," Mai says. "He's battling the Elder right after the spring dance, and then he gets to ascend the Bell Tower."

Talk then turns to the spring dance. Mai feels both excited and apprehensive to learn that her parents would be coming up to Ecruteak to see the spring dance. She resolves to train even harder to make sure she lands the role of Ho-oh, to prove to her parents that she has a future in dance.

She also pushes the nagging voice that reminds her of Tamao's prediction: one of the five girls will not be here in the spring, and she is the only girl Tamao has ever singled out for a conversation. No, she can't lose because it has begun. If she practices enough, she is just as qualified as anyone else to become a Kimono Girl.

As she is helping Mom clear away the dishes after dinner, she suddenly remembers something. "Hey Mom?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Have I ever been to Ecruteak before I was accepted to the Theater?" Mai asks. "You know, after we moved to Goldenrod, have we ever gone to Ecruteak?"

Mom frowns, considering. "No, I don't think so," she says. "We might've passed by Ecruteak on our way to Olivine a couple of times, but we definitely never went there. That's why it'd be nice to go sightsee when we come to visit you." She pauses as she gathers up the cutleries. "Why do you ask?"

"A haunter recognized me," Mai says, wondering whether Mom would believe her. "Or it thinks it did. It was during my first week in Ecruteak City. It told me that it missed me and welcomed me back. It also told me to go find it in the Burned Tower."

Mom frowns. "Did you?" She doesn't sound alarmed.

"I did, but I didn't find the haunter. I figure it must be mistaken but I was still curious."

Mom looks at the wall thoughtfully. "The haunter _is_ mistaken," she agrees. "It might have mistaken you for someone else. I've taken care of many ghost pokémon at the day care. The thing about them is that the passage of time means very little to them. They don't always understand that the humans and the non-ghost pokémon they meet don't live forever. Sometimes, if someone in their past made a strong impression, they might try to rediscover that someone, even if the original person is no longer alive."

Mai blinks at Mom, digesting the information. "Are you saying that the haunter thinks I'm a reincarnation of someone it once knew?"

Mom laughs. "Not at all," she says. "I'm not sure whether ghost pokémon can understand the concept of reincarnation. I'm just saying you probably reminded the haunter of someone." She winks at Mai, clearly no longer taking the encounter seriously. "Any guesses?"

Mai laughs too as she brings the rest of the dishes into the kitchen. "I'll have to get back to you on that."

In actuality, however, she thinks she does.

* * *

_Any guesses to the questions posed above?_


	10. In the Library

****_As promised, the first piece of the puzzle falls into place in this chapter. And actually, there are more answers than what meets the eye._

* * *

**Ten**

**In the Library**

Mai and Jake have been best friends since they first met in the playground halfway between their buildings. They got into a fight in the sandbox because Mai knocked over Jake's sand castle, and settled their disagreement with a pokédoll battle. Neither could truly remember who won, though Mai would always insist that her stuffed buneary did, while Jake would always insist that his stuffed turtwig did. Somehow, after the battle, they became friends and spent the rest of the afternoon planning out their joint pokémon journey to become champions.

They make plans to meet in the same playground a few days after Mai's return to Goldenrod. She spots him waiting for her on the bench from far away. In all appearance, Jake looks little changed since the days of their childhood. Still short and bespectacled, he is more tanned and lean since the last time she saw him.

"Hey," she says, sitting down beside him. "How are you?"

"Hey Mai, good to see you," Jake says. He talks more confidently now, Mai notes, whereas he had been rather timid as a school boy. Constantly challenging and being challenged by other trainers probably have that effect. "You look different."

"I do?" Mai has been wondering whether she has changed and whether it is a good thing. Going to dance school doesn't seem to be a life changing experience, not like a pokémon journey.

"Kind of." Jake scratches his head. "You walk differently, I guess."

Oh, that. Mai almost laughs. Jake would walk differently too if he had to wear a kimono and wood sandals every day for three months. "Well, you look different too," she says. "How's pokémon training?"

His eyes light up. "It's amazing!" he says. "I already got two badges and four pokémon. I'm actually going to challenge Whitney next week!"

"Wow, nice!" Mai says. "Tell me about your journey! Where have you gone so far?"

"Well, you know how I started," Jake says. "I got my cyndaquil from Nurse Joy, and then I went to Violet City and got the Zephyr Badge. I lost the first time, but then I caught my own pidgey and won the second time. Then I went south to Azalea Town and got the Hive Badge. My quilava made that a really easy battle." He blushes suddenly. "I probably would've gotten back to Goldenrod faster, but I got lost in the Ilex Forest."

"You did?" Mai giggles.

"I wasn't the only one," Jake says defensively. "Apparently people get lost in the forest all the time. I actually heard a Kimono Girl got lost a few months ago. Do you know about that?"

Mai stops smiling. "No."

"Well, yeah, apparently some trainer had to go rescue her or something," says Jake. "Weird, huh?"

She makes a face. Weird doesn't even begin to describe it. She decides to change the subject.

"Let me see your pokémon!"

Jake grins, not minding the abrupt subject change, and takes the four balls from his belt. He releases a quilava, a pidgeotto, a wooper, and a mareep. All of them greet Mai politely, at their trainers' request, and then sidle close to Jake. Clearly, after a few months of companionship, trainer and pokémon already share a tight bond.

Mai tries to imagine her friend, weaving his way through Johto with a growing party of pokémon. She feels twinges of jealousy. Once, they had agreed to go on this journey together. Not for the first time, she questions whether she made the right choice to become a dancer instead.

"Oh, and I got this for you," Jake says, reaching into his battered pack to retrieve a strange object. "I got it in Violet City and figured you might like it."

"Thanks! What is it?" Mai says, turning it over in her hands. It looks like a headband, except instead of having fabric stretched over the frame, it has feathers instead.

"There was a festival celebrating flying pokémon in Violet City," explains Jake. "They were giving these out, so I got one for you because only girls wear those things, not boys."

Mai puts it on, feeling both pleased that her friend thought of her and foolish. "I like it, thanks," she says, not entirely honestly. "Er, _whose_ feathers are on the headband?"

"I'm not sure, maybe pidgey and spearow? I think someone mentioned swablu too." No feather from Ho-oh, Mai thinks with some amusement. "Anyway," says Jake, watching as his quilava and pidgeotto settle in the sandbox, "how is your dance school?"

"It's okay," Mai says. "You know, I have normal classes and then dance classes, kind of like what I was doing here. There is a spring dance and I'm auditioning for the lead dancer part."

"Yeah? You will get it for sure!"

"Hopefully." Jake's words, like her parents', fail to reassure her. "Everyone in my year is really talented. What's even scarier is that not all the girls who enter the school can stay to become the top dancers."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for one thing, the headmistress basically told us that one of us will drop out of school by spring." Mai gives an involuntary shudder.

Jake is silent for a while. "Well, _suppose_ you don't become a top dancer," he says. "What would you do?"

The thought does not help. Mai hasn't allowed herself to consider that train of thought before, but of course, it could happen. In fact, it will happen to most of the girls at the Kimono Dance Theater. She imagines herself leaving, before being finished with her training, and clenches her fists. No, she could not allow that to happen. She won't think about it.

"I don't know," she says lightly, not meeting Jake's eyes. "What are you going to do if you don't become a pokémon master?"

"I thought about that," Jake says. "There are actually lots of things I could do, once I get a few more badges. Right now I'm debating between being a gym trainer and being a police officer."

Mai blinks before her mouth quirks upwards. "You, being an Officer Jenny? I think you have to be born into the family or something."

Jake blushes. "No, not the same thing!" he says. "More like secret agents."

"That sounds like something from a movie, Jake," she says skeptically. "Are you sure that's a real job?"

"Sure is!" exclaims Jake. "And they are way better police officers than Officer Jenny and have way more powerful Pokémon than growlithe and arcanine. The only reason that nobody has really heard of them is because they work undercover and investigate really secretive things. It's also really hard to become an agent. I'm going to need to train really hard!"

Mai crosses her arms over her chest. "Well, you know what, Kimono Girls are also really great trainers," she says. "I saw them battle and they're just as good as any gym leader, maybe even better, _and_ they train eevee evolutions. That's a way more awesome career than a secret agent."

"Right," says her friend, clearly not meaning it.

The two glare at each other for a few minutes before they burst out laughing. It is as if they are young children again, arguing about who will be the better Pokémon trainer.

"What are you up to for the rest of the day?" Mai asks. "Training for your battle against Whitney?"

"Nah," says Jake. "I've been training the past couple of days and need a break. Do you have anything in mind?"

"Well…" She glances at him. "I have a little quest that you can help me with. I'm going to the library to do some research and could use your help."

"Library?" He wrinkles his nose. "I don't know about that. What are you researching on?"

Mai sighs. "It's going to be a bit of a long story," she says. "You can stop me if it gets boring."

As concisely as possible, she explains what she knows about the Rainbow Reckoning. She tells Jake about Tim and his two friends, the two battles he won so far, as well as some of the strange happenings that she witnessed at the Kimono Dance Theater. By the time she finishes, Jake's eyes are wide as saucers.

"Now that," he says, "sounds like something from a movie."

"It isn't though," Mai says. "I'm actually not making any of this up. That's why I want to find out more about it. Teacher Sato – that's my history teacher – told us the background behind the Rainbow Reckoning, and Keiko's grandmother sort of talked about it too, but there's definitely way more to it than that. I want to see if we could find out more about it."

Jake shrugs as he starts recalling his pokémon. "Sounds interesting, I'm game."

The Goldenrod Library, unlike most buildings in Goldenrod, is an unassuming three-storied building tucked between a large hotel and a bustling supermarket. Fortunately, as it is the middle of winter break and a lovely day, the two friends have no trouble securing seats in the computer lab. It does not take Jake long before he is catching up on the current Rainbow Reckoning by reading the _Ecruteak Daily Digest_ online.

"Sounds impressive," Jake says. "What kind of pokémon does this Timothy have?"

"Pretty strong ones," Mai says, trying to remember. "You know, lucario, garchomp, gyarados." She shrugs. "But let's focus here. Maybe we could find out what happened to the trainers who went through the Reckoning in the past? The last one happened twenty years ago."

Jake frowns as he navigates through the archives. "There isn't much," he says. "All the articles on this website are so short and they don't archive articles from more than thirty years ago. Here, the last trainer was someone named Dorian, no last name listed, from Castelia City. Apparently he made it all the way past the three tests, but didn't end up ascending the tower. So what's the deal with ascending the tower again?"

Mind wandering with the new information, Mai gives a start when her friend pokes her to get her attention.

"Oh, the challenger goes up the Bell Tower – that's the tower where Ho-oh used to live – and then if he makes it all the way up there he gets to battle Ho-oh."

"And what happens if he wins? Does he get a big trophy?"

Mai giggles. "No, he gets to capture _Ho-oh_," she says.

Jake blinks. "Does something strike you as being a little fishy about this?" he asks, leaning back in his chair and glancing away from the computer screen.

Mai cocks her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, so you basically have this big ceremony organized around capturing Ho-oh, right?" Jake says. "But it also seems like the identity of Ecruteak is pretty tied to Ho-oh. You know, you have all these legends and rituals, and a lot of them are related to the legendary pokémon. So why would they want Ho-oh to be captured?"

Mai thinks for a moment. "Maybe they just want someone who impresses Ho-oh enough to come back. And anyway, Ho-oh is a legendary. Maybe he is too strong to be actually captured."

"Legendary pokémon are still pokémon, at the end of the day," Jake says. "Besides, some people have master balls. If _I_ have a master ball and see Ho-oh, you bet I'll be able to capture it."

She sighs. "Okay, what do _you_ think then?"

Jake shrugs. "I think you guys don't actually want Ho-oh to be captured, and all of this Rainbow Reckoning business is just a publicity stunt, maybe for your dance school."

Mai considers her friend's logic. It isn't adding up for her. "I don't know about that…"

"It makes sense to me. Why else would the Kimono Girls get involved in all the battles? They're supposed to be dancers. And that's probably why the Naomi girl was acting so weird, she's probably worried that she'd do really badly and then embarrass the Theater, and it kind of sounds like she did."

"That seems really elaborate," Mai says slowly. "To come up with a whole ceremony just to promote dance?"

"I don't know, Mai," says Jake. "This doesn't sound all that impressive, no offense. I mean, I pass through small villages on my way to cities and sometimes they have weird traditions, like walking on your hands on Tuesdays or dancing with miltank to make better ice cream. This sounds more of the same. A lot of traditions are just meaningless, but you get caught up in it because you lived there forever."

Mai finds the logic unsettling, even though she has to admit that there is something about Ecruteak City that can ensnare someone in its mysteries, though she stays quiet. Meanwhile, Jake starts looking at the other articles related to Ecruteak City. After all, his next challenge, after defeating Whitney, would be Morty of Ecruteak City.

No, there _has_ to be more to the Rainbow Reckoning than a publicity stunt. Mai remembers Naomi and Morty, Jackie's concern, and the glowing red eyes of Kaguya. There is definitely more at stake than the reputation of the Kimono Dance Theater, and whatever it is must be related to Ho-oh. She turns back to her own computer and starts to search for Ho-oh-related mythology, when her friend breaks the silence.

"Hey Mai?" Jake's voice sounds weird.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know someone named Sumomo?" he says.

Mai's head jerks up. "What did you say?"

"Sumomo Poplar," Jake says. "Is she related to you?"

"Let me see," Mai says, leaning over to peer at his screen. Jake is no longer on the _Ecruteak Daily Digest_ website, but the website of an Ecruteak City magazine, the _Ecruteak Gazette_, that apparently did a feature a couple of years ago on the Kimono Girls. She holds her breath as she takes in the title.

_The ten most famous Kimono Girls_

Mai scans down the list, past the familiar names she studied in history books or watched on television, before she finds the entry she is searching for, the entry that she has ready many times in the past.

_Eight: Sumomo Poplar, née Sasaki_

_Sumomo is most famous for her leading role in the Dance of the Camellias, a dance whose beauty and difficulty have never since been surpassed. Indeed, with her raw talent, she would have ranked much higher on this list had she not done the unforgiveable: she deserted her duty to the Kimono Dance Theater to run away with a pokémon trainer from Unova. She took nothing with her, not even her beloved vaporeon, and severed all contact with her friends and family. To this day, her name is not mentioned in Ecruteak City, tarnishing what would have been a fine legacy._

Mai looks up after she is done. Jake is looking at her questioningly. It takes her a while to collect her bearings and a bit more to find her voice.

"Yeah, I know her," she says eventually. "That's my biological mother."

* * *

Later, in her own room, Mai takes out the photograph album containing the only pictures she has of her mother. Her father, having after all been Mom's brother, can be found in far more photographs. Mother, however, seemed to have been camera-shy. There was her, radiantly happy on her wedding day, dressed in a green kimono. And there was her again, resting her elbows on the handles of a baby carriage as she faces the camera with a slight smile.

Mai stops at her favorite picture of Mother, a studio shot taken shortly after her arrival in Unova. Her mother looks so young and beautiful, dressed in a kimono with a sea of camellias against a background of navy blue. She has seen the kimono many times, neatly folded in one of Mom's trunks, and has seen the kimono in the pictures displayed in the library of the Kimono Dance Theater. She has always known that Mother was a dancer, but she never knew that Mother was a Kimono dancer until she saw her name in the yellowed dance programs on the wall, never knew that Mother was disgraced until she had tea with Kyoko and searched Mother's name online for the first time.

She clenches her hand into a fist and tucks it against her cheek. Her mother had come to Unova with her father, bringing nothing but the kimono she is wearing, so the family lore goes. Mai has never believed it until then, dismissing it as Mom's attempt to dramatize the lives of her late brother and sister-in-law. But more and more, she realizes it to be quite true. Her mother, who could have been the most famous Kimono Girl in the history of the Theater, left _everything_ – her family, her friends, her career – to run away with her father. She didn't even care enough to pack any of her belongings.

Why did she do it?

Mai stares into Sumomo Poplar's green eyes and falls deeply into thought.


	11. Darkness Descends

****_Thanks for sticking with the story so far; the pacing has been a bit slow but I'm trying to speed it up now that we're nearing the end._

* * *

**Eleven**

**Darkness Descends**

Winter break seems to have barely begun before Mai finds herself in the car on her way back to the Goldenrod City train station. By then, Jake has already earned his Plain Badge and moved on to new challenges, promising to visit her when he is ready to challenge Morty. Even though Mai is becoming bored at home, and even though she misses her friends at the Theater, she becomes increasingly wistful as she passes the tall buildings she knows so well. Part of her isn't ready to step back into the intrigue that is Ecruteak City.

At the station, she nestles in Mom's arms as they hug goodbye. "I'll miss you and Daddy," she says.

"Daddy and I will be visiting you in just a few weeks," Mom reminds her. "We'll be there before you know it! And then you can show us how beautiful you are in your spring dance."

Mai sighs and nods. Then with one last wave, she picks up her bag and joins the other travelers to board the train headed for Ecruteak City.

The trip back is just as uneventful as the trip from Ecruteak City. When she emerges from the station, she feels almost as disoriented as she felt on her first day. In a sharp contrast to the vibrancy of Goldenrod City, it feels as if absolutely nothing has changed in Ecruteak.

It turns out that Mai is wrong and much has changed since her departure. Keiko is only too eager to fill her in on the happenings the minute Mai settles back into her dorm. Since the other girls have yet to return, she is her friend's only audience.

"Guess what?" Keiko says, practically bouncing with excitement. She doesn't bother waiting for Mai's guess. "Naomi is put on probation!"

Mai shoves the last of her clothes into the dresser and climbs onto her bed. "What's probation?" she asks, knowing it's probably another arbitrary Ecruteak rule that she has yet to learn.

"It's just a polite way of saying she'll be stripped of her Kimono Girl status soon," Keiko explains. "Basically Naomi is supposed to file her resignation letter once her replacement is trained. Madame is too nice to fire anyone outright."

"Maybe Naomi wants to resign herself?" Mai suggests, thinking of Sumomo.

"Of course not," Keiko says. "Nobody in her right mind would resign from the Kimono Dance Theater. No, Madame definitely asked her to."

Mai isn't entirely surprised. "Is it related to the ceremonial battle?"

"Well, that's the other thing." Keiko leans in and grins. "It's because of an affair."

Mai drops the pillow that she is holding. "An _affair_?" she repeats. "Are you sure?"

Keiko grins. "Crazy, right?" she says.

"With _who_?"

"Morty."

Now Mai herself almost falls out of her bed. _"Morty?"_ Other than the fact that Morty is the gym leader, he must be at least twice Naomi's age. She cannot quite wrap her mind around this possible union. "Where are you hearing this from?"

"Everyone in Ecruteak knows," Keiko says. "All the insiders, anyway. Naomi has been meeting Morty secretly, sometimes at the gym, sometimes even here. At first nobody knew but of course then people started noticing. Eventually Tooka reported Naomi and Madame was just _furious_. Kimono Girls aren't supposed to allow their personal lives to interfere with their dancing,"

Mai flinches on Naomi's behalf.

"Anyway," continues Keiko, "it's been obvious that something is wrong. Naomi has been losing focus for months. She even tried to warn Naomi to give her second chances, and she didn't listen. So finally, after Naomi ignored Madame's final warning, and now that everyone found out she broke the Theater rules, she was put on probation."

Mai blinks. Recalling the meeting she overheard before the second test, she is certain that Naomi and Morty were meeting for reasons far more serious than a love affair. However, she chooses to keep this to herself and remarks instead, "That's crazy."

"Right?" Keiko says. "I can't believe this happened at the Theater. Between the Rainbow Reckoning and Naomi, I think our first year is almost too exciting."

_You have no idea._ Mai retrieves her pillow and flops back on her bed. She would rather not worry about any of the drama going on in Ecruteak City, and for now she would stop worrying about what happened to her mother. Instead, she thinks of her spring dance and renews her determination to become Ho-oh.

* * *

Once school begins, Mai settles easily back into the rhythm of school. Now that all the first years have learned the complete spring dance, both dance classes and practices consist solely of perfecting the choreography. The audition for the role of Ho-oh will take place in February, and naturally all the first years are determined to win the role.

Mai, especially, is determined to become Ho-oh. For one thing, it will justify the years of training and dreams. For another, it will mean that she would not be the girl who departs the Theater in the spring, for surely the lead dancer cannot be asked to leave. Therefore she spends all of her waking hours practicing the dance, when she is not eating or studying for other classes. The practice is so consuming that even at night, when she closes her eyes, she can hear the music and envision herself dancing.

The day of the audition arrives on a snowy day. All classes are cancelled for the first years. They meet on the dance stage where Tamao has held their dance classes since they began learning Ho-oh's choreography. The five girls glance at each other nervously before Tamao speaks.

"The day has come to show me what you have learned," she says, eyeing each of them in turn before she moves to the center of the stage, Kaguya close at her heels. "As I have told you on the first day, one of you will be Ho-oh in our spring dance and one of you will no longer be here. Today I shall learn the answers to both questions."

Mai tenses and she exchanges a wary look with Keiko. Can first years be asked to resign?

"Now let us not waste any more time," Tamao says. "I will now watch each of you dance Ho-oh's dance and select the best candidate to lead the spring dance. I have already selected the order in which you will audition. If you are not dancing, please exit the stage at this time. Keiko, if you would please remain behind."

Keiko turns white and swallows. Mai squeezes her hand quickly before she follows the others off the stage. The stage darkens and a single spotlight focuses on Keiko, who walks to the center and bows to Tamao. As the soft shamisen and flute music starts playing, she starts to dance.

Mai doesn't realize that she is gripping the armrests of her chair very tightly. She wants her friend to do well, although she would be lying to say that she wants her friend to be the best dancer. Of all her classmates, Keiko has the best fundamentals and a natural affinity to the music of Kimono dancing, having after all been trained in the Theater's sister school. While Mai isn't quite sure how her own dance abilities place in comparison to Keiko's, she is aware that Keiko will be her toughest competitor. For the role of Ho-oh, and for all the dances beyond.

Keiko's dancing is indeed beautiful, catching all the subtle nuances of the music, overlooking not even the most trivial movement in the choreography. When she finishes, the lights go back on and Tamao is nodding in approval. Then she scans the audience. "Akina, if you would please step on stage."

"I'm glad that's over," Keiko whispers to Mai, as Akina gets up.

"You are really good," Mai says, feeling her own nervousness mounting.

Akina also dances well, although her movements are less fluid than Keiko's. At the climax of the dance, she looks less like a flying bird than an airplane veered off course. She is shaking her head as she rejoins the other girls in the audience, wearing the same solemn expression as Tamao.

"Definitely not me," she says with a sigh.

Chiyo is the next to dance. Her dancing is assured and crisp until she reaches the end and misses part of the ending choreography, so that she finishes a few excruciating seconds before the music ends. She is blinking back tears when she exits the stage and Akina quickly moves to comfort her.

Hana, however, is the least fortunate. While she starts off well, she stumbles in the middle and is never able to recover her timing for the remainder of the dance. The dancing and the music clash, and Mai winces at the frown on Tamao's face. When Hana rejoins the others, she looks even more upset than Chiyo, although she expresses it by scowling instead of crying.

Mai gulps. She is the last dancer. Has Tamao been calling them in the order of perceived ability? Of the four girls who have gone so far, Keiko is clearly the strongest and Hana is clearly the weakest.

"Mai, whenever you are ready, please step on stage."

Her legs feel like jelly. Mai manages to make her way on the dance stage and takes a few calming breaths before the lights dim and the spotlight finds her. She can do this; she must do this. When the music begins playing, she almost misses the first cue before muscle memory takes over, and she assumes the role of Ho-oh before consciously registering what she is doing.

Dancing for Mai has always come easily, and she finds the quiet and subtle nature of Kimono dancing especially natural. For her, dancing is much more than the choreography. It is the story of the dance that really thrills her, the emotion captured in every glance, the intent behind every movement. And indeed, as the music reaches the climax, she feels as if she were truly Ho-oh, stretching her giant rainbow-colored wings as she flies over the burning Brass Tower, reviving the beasts within and turning them into legends.

When the dance comes to a close, she stands for a moment in the spotlight, eyes closed, basking in the silence and feeling drained but utterly satisfied. She wonders if this is how Sumomo feels every time she performs the Dance of Camellias. Then the lights return and she opens her eyes to find Tamao staring very intently at her, her expression inscrutable.

Eventually Tamao smiles and Mai thinks she hears the headmistress say, "But of course."

Kaguya bows her head, red eyes narrowed.

Once all the first years are back on stage, Tamao says, "Thank you all for an hour of beautiful dancing. We shall congregate back here after lunch."

Her gaze rests on Mai before she turns away.

* * *

Of course, the girls could talk about little else over lunch.

"It's definitely you or Keiko," Akina tells Mai. "You are the only two who didn't mess up."

Hana grimaces. "Let's not remind ourselves, okay?" she says as she digs savagely into her seaweed salad. "I don't know what happened. I've never messed up so badly before. I hope Madame isn't going to fire me after this."

Chiyo flinches. "You don't think she's going to announce the lead dancer _and_ the dancer who leaves?"

"Well, isn't that what she was implying?" Hana says.

"If that's the case, whoever's leaving will be in good company with Naomi," says Keiko, drawing few appreciative laughs even though she is clearly joking.

Mai focuses on her rice bowl and stays quiet, still digesting Tamao and Kaguya's reactions. She doesn't feel comfortable speculating the headmistress's decision. Personally she feels that she has done a better job of portraying Ho-oh than Keiko, but Keiko has a better grasp of the style of Kimono dance.

Tension is running high when the girls return to the stage to await Tamao's decision. The headmistress is standing the same place as she did an hour ago, as if she did not leave at all for her own lunch. After the girls have reassumed their positions, she turns to them and smiles.

"If anyone is wondering," she says without preamble, "I will not be announcing the name of the departing dancer. She will know who she is, if not now, then soon enough. I will now announce the lead dancer. While it is based mainly on this morning's audition, I have also monitored your progress very closely to select the dancer whom, I believe, embodies Ho-oh's spirit the most. This is a talented group and the choice was very difficult to make."

She scans the room with a slight smile. Mai gulps. It is her, it has to be her. She has been the best dancer in the class and her grades reflect the fact. She straightens.

"And Ho-oh," says Tamao, with a smile, "will be Keiko."

* * *

Mai does not know how she survives the rest of dance class. Somehow she finds the strength to hug and congratulate Keiko, and manages to wear a smile as the girls start to work on the formation of the spring dance. She tries to focus on Suicune's role, although her eyes keep straying to the other side of the stage, where Tamao is correcting Keiko's poses. While she knows that Akina, Chiyo, and Hana are similarly disappointed, she also feels that they have not been in the running.

When dance class mercifully ends, Mai is the first to head into the locker room to change. Unfortunately Keiko catches her before she leaves.

"I'm sorry we couldn't have two Ho-oh," her friend says earnestly. "I think you would've been a great Ho-oh."

"You will be even better," Mai says unconvincingly.

"Are you going back to the dorms?" Keiko asks. "I'll be ready in just a minute. Let's head back together."

Mai glances behind her to see Akina and Hana approaching in the distance. "Actually, I have a quick errand to run," she lies quickly. "I need to – I need to get a book from the library. But I'll see you at dinner. Congrats again!"

She slips away before Keiko could protest. Once she is sure that she is out of sight, she starts running.

Wooden sandals are not made for running and every once in a while Mai would trip, although she does not stop. Tears sting her eyes, tears of disappointment, humiliation, and regret. Tamao's message is clear. She isn't good enough, no matter how hard she tries. She might even be the dancer who is supposed to leave, for all she knows. Jake's words echo in her head. _Suppose you don't become a top dancer, what will you do?_

Yes, indeed, what _will_ she do? She couldn't quit the Theater, she just couldn't. Not now, not when she has already invested so much of herself in the endeavor. She has come so close to achieving her dreams, so close, that to do anything else in the dance world would be but a pale imitation of the real thing. But is she to become one of those trainees who languish in anonymity forever, wishing and hoping only to be disappointed?

At some point Mai has started crying, and as she nears the woods surrounding the library, she stops to wipe her eyes, lest she runs into anyone she knows. Fortunately it is close to dinner time and there are very few trainees around at this time. Mai takes a few steadying breaths and mentally prepares herself to head to the cafeteria. It might be hard facing her friends' sympathy, but she needs food before the place closes.

Then something streaks past her and she jumps, only able to catch a glimpse of blue before that something disappears from sight.

Heart pounding, Mai calls, "Hello?"

There is no answer. She glances around and steps closer to the woods. Is she imagining things, or does there seem to be a smudge of bright color among the trees? And are those footsteps she hears, fading away in the distance?

Mai shudders, having always found this area creepy. If she hasn't been so upset, she probably would have turned and left by this point, but today she allows her curiosity to distract her from her disappointment.

Mai edges even closer to the woods, except there is nothing to be seen. She steps over a bush and opens her mouth to call again, but the word dies in her throat as she starts screaming.

She does not imagine the smudge of color. It comes from an all-too-familiar purple kimono. She is looking straight at the pale, cold face of Naomi, and Naomi is dead.


	12. Reunion

_Sorry for the delay! This story really needs momentum on my part to write, and unfortunately it comes and goes. I'm hoping to wrap it up before the end of the year though; there aren't that many chapters left._**  
**

_To recap the key plot points in the most recent chapters:_

_- Sumomo is Mai's mother_

_- Naomi is dead_

_- Keiko will be the lead dancer of the spring dance_

* * *

**Part Twelve**

**Reunion**

The night seems to last forever. First there are the trainees nearby who hear her screams, and then there is Madame Tamao and some of the other teachers, and finally the police arrive. Mai is taken to the headmistress's office for what seems to be hours of questioning by Officer Jenny.

_Did you see anything? Did you hear anything? What were you doing there?_ She shakes her head. The only thing she saw, and only thing she could still see, is Naomi's face, which will surely haunt her in dreams.

Eventually, Tamao, who has been present the entire time, cuts in. "Office Jenny, I think Mai has told us all she knows," she says. "As she will still be expected to attend classes tomorrow, I would be very grateful if she could be allowed to return to her dormitory."

Office Jenny glances up from her pad, where she has presumably been jotting down Mai's answers, mostly variations of, _I have no idea._ "Yes, I agree." She nods at Mai. "Thank you for your time, Miss Poplar. Headmistress, it looks like my team is done here as well, but we may need to return tomorrow for more information."

Tamao nods. "That is to be expected," she says. "Do keep me in the loop of your investigation. I shall help in any way I can, as shall my students and staff."

"Will do," Officer Jenny says.

She stands up and, with one last nod to Tamao and Mai, exits the room, her growlithe at her heels. Once she is gone, Tamao turns to Mai, who tenses. Tamao is far sharper than Officer Jenny, and Mai isn't sure that she's in any state of mind to go through another round of questioning.

To her surprise, the headmistress gives her a disarmingly kind smile. "I'm sure enough has happened for you today, Mai," she says. "On behalf of the Theater, I apologize."

"I'm all right," Mai replies, wondering if Tamao is referring to more than just Naomi's death.

"As I told Officer Jenny, I think you should go to bed," Tamao continues. "However, before you do so, I would like to remind you that there will undoubtedly be rumors floating around the Theater, and those who are curious will surely come to you for more details. I am sure that you will know better than to dispense lies. Naomi, as no doubt the police investigation will find, committed suicide. It is the only graceful ending for a dancer who had disgraced herself and the Theater."

A shiver runs down Mai's spine as she digests Tamao's words. Maybe she is becoming overly paranoid, but she thinks she detects the hint of a threat.

"Right," she says, although the headmistress has already turned away.

"Good night, I will see you tomorrow."

Mai returns to her dorm in a daze. By then, news of Naomi's death has traveled throughout the Kimono Dance Theater, and somehow its connection to Mai has also been leaked. Her fellow first years meet her eagerly with a wave of _what happened?_

"Is it true that Naomi is dead?"

"Is it true that Naomi was _murdered_?"

"Did you see the murderer? How did you escape?"

Mai flops down on her bed and yawns. "I'm really tired," she says, and she is not really stretching the truth. "Can we talk about it tomorrow?"

Hana and Chiyo frown, while Akina opens her mouth to argue, but Keiko comes to Mai's rescue. "It's late anyway," she says. "Let's all go to bed."

She gives Mai a small smile, which Mai does not return, because the loss of Ho-oh's role is still sore.

Long after the other girls have fallen sleep, Mai lies awake, her mind churning despite her body's utter exhaustion. She knows, without a doubt, that Naomi was murdered. She also knows that Tamao knows that Naomi was murdered. There had been something on the older woman's face that gave her away, an expression that was halfway between satisfaction and regret.

Mai shivers and hugs her comforter closer to herself, disliking where this train of thought is taking her. If she is thinking that Tamao had something to do with Naomi's murder, and if she had inadvertently happened upon Naomi before Tamao could cover up her tracks, could she be next? And who could help her? Her parents and most of her close friends are far away. Even Keiko, who is supposedly her best friend at the Theater, would not help her if it endangers her own dance career.

_If anything happens, will you let me know? You can always find me at the pokémon center…_

Mai bites her lip. Jackie isn't the first person she would want to go to for help, and she has no clear idea of how the older girl could help her, but Jackie might well be the only person who might be able to help her, the only person who might even want to believe the truth.

Her weekend plans determined, Mai closes her eyes and prays to all the pokémon deities she could name that she would live that long

* * *

.

The pokémon center is bustling with activity on Saturday morning. Mai tries to smooth down her windblown hair, feeling conspicuous in her kimono among the sea of trainers in casual apparel and their noisy pokémon.

When she reaches the counter, Nurse Joy gives her a smile in recognition; she might not know Mai specifically, but even Kimono Dance Theater trainees command respect throughout Ecruteak City.

"Hello there, how may I help you?"

"I'm here to see someone who's staying here," Mai says.

"Of course," Nurse Joy says. "What's her name?"

"Jackie," Mai says, realizing in that moment that she doesn't know the other girl's last name. Has Jackie ever told her?

Nurse Joy gives her a puzzled look. "I can try looking up the first name," she says slowly, "but I'm afraid I'll pull up more than one Jackie…"

"She's the one who –"

Mai is starting to say, _the one who travels with Timothy Dragonweed_, before she stops herself abruptly and a chill runs down her spine. She's being careless. Surely word would travel that a Kimono Girl trainee is meeting with the friend of Timothy Dragonweed, and after what happened to Naomi….

Fortunately, a boy runs up then and slams five pokéballs to the counter, and while Nurse Joy turns to Chansey in distraction, Mai slips back into the crowd. After wandering the lobby for a few more minutes and taking a peek at the canteen, where breakfast is being served, she decides that it's time for a change of plans. She could call it a day and pretend that nothing has happened. On the other hand…

Mai clenches her fists in determination. There is one other person who may be able to help her.

The winter sun is shining brightly as Mai makes her way to the Ecruteak gym, which thankfully is not far away from the pokémon center. She is so focused on practicing the words in her head that she almost does not notice that there is a long line outside the gym and the front doors are tightly shut.

"It's so annoying," a girl is telling a fellow trainer. "Why isn't the gym leader here yet? I made the appointment a month in advance and I really need this badge. Otherwise I'm going to have to go to Mahogany or Olivine for the next one, and I might not make it to this year's League."

Mai frowns after she glances over a nearby trainer's shoulder to see his watch. It is past eleven and the gym should have been open hours ago. She bites her lip, wondering if she should go back and try the pokémon center again. Just then, the front doors open a crack and a middle-aged woman exits, holding a clipboard.

"Hi everyone," she says. "I'm Ayame, the receptionist for Morty's gym. I'm sorry to inform you that the gym will be closed for a few months, as Morty has to attend to business out of town." As the trainers exchange looks, she holds out the clipboard. "If you would like to be on the waiting list, please sign up here. We will inform you once Morty returns."

Most of the trainers are shaking their heads or exchanging looks of exasperation, and very few of them actually go up to Ayame to put their names down.

"Why can't you just put our numbers in a computer system or take our phone numbers?" the girl Mai overhead demands.

"I'm sorry, that's the way this gym operates," says Ayame. "Taking down everyone's phone number will be quite unwieldy."

"But I made an appointment."

"I'm sorry," repeats Ayame. "All formerly made appointments are cancelled and will need to be rescheduled."

The girl narrows her eyes. Mai decides to leave before she causes a scene, when she notices that Jackie is standing some distance away, as if she has been observing the gym for some time.

"Hello there," Jackie says as Mai approaches her. "What are you doing here?"

Mai hesitates briefly. "I was looking for Morty," she says eventually. She might as well be honest from the start. "But it looks like he's gone."

"Yeah, probably can't blame him," Jackie says. "I mean, his girlfriend committed suicide, right? Something must've been going on between the two of them."

"Right…" Mai blinks at the older girl, not entirely sure whether she's being serious. "Well, I was also looking for you. I need to talk to you."

Jackie takes in Mai's serious expression. "Okay," she says. "Let's go back to my room at the pokémon center. Both Simon and Tim are out so we should have plenty of privacy."

* * *

An hour later, Mai and Jackie are both sitting on the floor of her room in the pokémon center, Mai kneeling and Jackie cross-legged. Mai has just finished recounting the events of the night when she discovered Naomi, leaving out the dance audition that led her to the woods.

Jackie lets out an audible exhale. "So you're telling me that Naomi didn't actually commit suicide, despite what the _Ecruteak Daily Digest_ says, and despite Officer Jenny saying specifically that all evidence turned up from her investigation corroborates the suicide theory. Plus Tamao has a letter from Naomi."

Mai nods uncertainly. To her relief, Jackie nods as well.

"I believe you," she says. "Then the question would be, why would the headmistress of the Kimono Dance Theater murder her own dancer and expose herself to a potential scandal?"

"Naomi was meeting Morty," Mai says slowly. "I don't think she likes the idea of the Rainbow Reckoning."

Jackie is wearing a very strange expression. "Why would Naomi be against the Rainbow Reckoning?" she says. "She's one of the Kimono Girls who convinced Tim to do it."

The younger girl nods. "But she also could've ended Tim's challenge if she didn't faint during the second test," she points out.

Jackie frowns at the implied insult to her friend. "Fine. Then she probably discovered something she didn't like about the Reckoning process, something that Morty probably told her," she says. "Very conveniently, Morty is also gone, and I won't be surprised if a new gym leader replaces him by the time the gym reopens."

"But Morty has been the gym leader for a long time," Mai says, remembering the crowd that came to watch the first test. "He's very popular."

"He might be popular, but he's not the one holding the power in Ecruteak City." Jackie turns to face her. "Haven't you noticed? It's really the Elder and you guys running the whole place. All these meaningless ceremonies and dances. All the insiders and outsiders nonsense. Everything here revolves around you, even though all that you stand for –" She stops herself. "I'm sorry."

Mai swallows. The girl she is talking to seems very different from the bubbly and slightly airheaded girl she met a few months earlier, and she is hurt by the insult to her chosen career. She gets up.

"It's okay, but I should get going," she says. "I've been gone from the Theater long enough and I don't want anyone to notice."

"Hang on," Jackie says. "You've come to me with all this information. How should I help you?"

Mai blinks, caught off-guard. _Make sure that I don't also get murdered by my headmistress? _"You told me to come to you if anything weird happens."

It may be her imagination, but Jackie looks somewhat uncomfortable. "I did say that, but probably not for the reason you think," she says with a sigh. "I am going to investigate this with Simon though, maybe try to track down Morty and figure out what's going on. I will try to keep in touch with you so you know what's going on, although that might not be the best idea after what happened to Naomi. The whole atmosphere in Ecruteak these days…"

"Thank you."

"Are you headed back to the Theater now?" Jackie says. "I can walk you part of the way."

Mai shrugs, a noncommittal response. "Pretty soon," she says, although now that she is feeling a rush of adrenaline, she has an additional destination in mind. "I will be all right on my own, thanks."

* * *

Mai has only been in the neighborhood once and the specific roads are fuzzy in her mind. She circles back and forth a few times before she finally locates the correct house. Flat-roofed and squat, it blends into all the other houses on the streets, distinguished only by the family name on the rusty mailbox.

The girl takes a deep breath before she knocks on the door. She knocks three times before she hears the sound of approaching footsteps. Then the door opens and she is staring at the face of the old woman she once saw on the streets. The woman blinks her bright green eyes as she registers her visitor.

"Ah," she says, completely unsurprised. "It is you. Welcome."

Mai steps inside. She says, "Hello, Grandmother."


End file.
